Education in America

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Comment by Chris Jurrians on July 9, 2010 at 11:23am

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is all I can say to this. I will comment on this later when I have calmed down enough to type.

How do people think that HITLER got his start?????

Comment by Tina Dupont on July 9, 2010 at 11:15am

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/pubs/mcc/

Comment by Ken and Brenda Battle Jordan on July 3, 2010 at 5:47pm

Back in the News again...Westwood+Heights+School+Board News In Pakistan.htm

Comment by Chris Jurrians on June 14, 2010 at 9:22am

I read in the Grand Rapids Press yesterday that the State of Michigan has a $300M surplus in the school aid fund. I was so mad my hair was on fire. How in the world can there be a SURPLUS when the school districts have all had to make cuts? They cut $165 this year per student and are in line to cut another $200 or so for the next year.

The powers that be in Lansing want to transfer some of the money to the general fund to plug gaps. PLUG GAPS???? How about leaving it there for when it is needed, like now. Our excellent governor was told not to plug leaks with stimulus money. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

My son is in the Grand Rapids Public School system and his school does not have enough books to go around. NOT ENOUGH BOOKS!!!!!!!!! Where has all the money I pay in taxes and millages gone? Obviously not to buy books or to help the floundering school districts.

If anybody can shed some light on this, I would really appreciate it. I have called Justin Amash's office and Lisa Brown's office to see what I can find out. This makes me so mad I could just scream.

Comment by Ken and Brenda Battle Jordan on June 1, 2010 at 11:16pm

lakeville_westwood_heights_sch.htm

Comment by Tina Dupont on June 1, 2010 at 10:17am

Paying Teachers Not to Teach
By Michael Van Beek | June 1, 2010

At a recent rally where school employees called for an increase in state taxes, a representative of the Warren Education Association claimed that school revenues were in such disrepair that some students had to go without desks. A spokesperson from Warren Consolidated Schools denied this claim, but even if it were true, a few very minor policy changes well short of tax hikes would be all that is necessary to pay for many new desks.

According the the Warren district's collective bargaining agreement with teachers, the president of the local teachers union is paid the highest possible salary the contract will allow ($92,835), plus full fringe benefits. The union boss is also released from all teaching duties, meaning that the district pays this person not to instruct students but to conduct union business.

The vice president of the union is also released from teaching duties for half of each school day. To make up the slack, the district is forced to keep additional teachers on the payroll. Based on the average teacher salary in Warren of $73,421, this additional cost for providing release time to union officials would buy 1,380 new desks every year.

Many other school districts throughout the state subsidize union personnel costs by granting release time like this. But since the Warren district is supposedly unable to afford enough desks for its students, it should end this policy and use the money saved to benefit students.

Comment by Tina Dupont on June 1, 2010 at 10:16am

The Salary History of a Michigan Public School Teacher
By Tom Gantert | June 1, 2010

A Saline Public Schools teacher that was hired in 2009 would start with a salary of $40,425 and see it rise to $111,750 in the 15th year, an increase of 178 percent.

The analysis of the hypothetical Saline teacher's career salary track was done by Michael Van Beek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The analysis was done as if the teacher's salary increases were based on the conditions of the existing 2009-10 teachers contract.

It assumes that the hypothetical teacher earned a graduate degree in the eighth year of the contract. About 59 percent of teachers have a graduate degree, according to 2008 data from the Michigan Department of Education

It also assumes that the hypothetical teacher didn't get any of the bonuses offered for extracurricular or special teaching activities. And the salary analysis does not include a salary longevity bonus at the end of the 15th year, worth an additional $2,579.

Van Beek wrote in an e-mail that most school districts have very similar contracts with automatic "step" increases on top of across-the-board increases.

"This is a typical method for compensating teachers," Van Beek said. "The percentages will change, the step increases will change, but the way it accumulates is the same for most every school district in the country."

According to the contract, the hypothetical teacher received an 8-percent increase in years two and three, a 9-percent raise in year four, and 11-percent raises in years five through seven. After earning a graduate degree, the hypothetical teacher got a 27-percent raise in the eighth year and then got a 10-percent raise the following year. In years 10 through 15, the percentage raises were 4,2,2,3,2 and 2.

"This is what our school boards are agreeing to. It is no wonder it continues to cost more to keep school employees working," Van Beek wrote in an e-mail.

According to Annarbor.com, the Saline school district is anticipating a $5.4 million shortfall from a $52.4 million budget.

"People in a public sector cannot afford to pay for a teacher who is going to 8 to 10 to 27 percent increases," said Charlie Owens, state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. "It's not sustainable given our current economic situation. At some point, this is going to have to be addressed. And none of this related to performance."

Saline Superintendent Scot Graden didn't return an e-mail seeking comment.

Saline Spokesman Steve Laatsch refused comment.

Tim Heim, the Saline teachers union president, didn't return phone messages.

Comment by Tina Dupont on June 1, 2010 at 9:22am

Remember when they talked about Liberty and Liberal they meant freedom not socialism like it's meant today.

"It is an object of vast magnitude that systems of education should be adopted and pursued which may not only diffuse a knowledge of the sciences but may implant in the minds of the American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty and inspire them with just and liberal ideas of government and with an inviolable attachment to their own country." --Noah Webster, On Education of Youth in America, 1790

Comment by Ken and Brenda Battle Jordan on May 30, 2010 at 10:21am

Comment by Ken and Brenda Battle Jordan on May 30, 2010 at 10:17am

BrendaBattleJordansMASBSchoolMemberTranscritp2010.pdf

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