I was going to make the same point Chris...
"What it does not do is force schools to open enrollment to any and all, whether residents of the district or not."

House Bill 5923 radically changes the funding of public education by allowing corporations to fund schools. The Michigan Public Education Finance Act allows students to attend multiple districts, private schools, or charter schools at the same time, thus, taking a portion of their per-pupil funding with them. This is what is really going to hurt us here in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

I again agree with School Board President Judy Gafa that struggling districts need help, but Governor Snyder's plan is not the answer. Local communities and professional educators know better than Lansing politicians and corporate CEOs how to fix their districs in ways that best support teachers, students, and families. All Michigan students should have access to the same high quality education. These reforms, however, will give them all access to the same low quality education.

Please read the WSJ article by Arthur Levine that discusses the suburban education gap and specifically mentions GP schools.. If local control is so wonderful why are our achievement goals set so low. Why can't we compete in the international academic arena?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444223104578041181255713360.html

Of the 70 countries tested by the widely used Program for International Student Assessment, the United States falls in the middle of the pack. This is the case even for relatively well-off American students: Of American 15-year-olds with at least one college-educated parent, only 42% are proficient in math, according to a Harvard University study of the PISA results. That is compared with 75% proficiency for all 15-year-olds in Shanghai and 50% for those in Canada.
Compared with big urban centers, America's affluent suburbs have roughly four times as many students performing at the academic level of their international peers in math. But when American suburbs are compared with two of the top school systems in the world—in Finland and Singapore—very few, such as Evanston, Ill., and Scarsdale, N.Y., outperform the international competition. Most of the other major suburban areas underperform the international competition. That includes the likes of Grosse Point, Mich., Montgomery County, Md., and Greenwich, Conn. And most underperform substantially, according to the Global Report Card database of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Chris K, I can answer that for you. It's because this red tide of mediocrity has infected our national psyche. We in the suburbs compare our school to what's closest and what's closest is failure. So we judge ourselves against the inept and ingnorant and feel good about ourselves.

Chris K, I read the WSJ article. Look at the countries Levine identifies as beating the US in education--Singapore, Canada, and Finland. Each have extremely strong teacher union and high teacher pay. Each places high value on education as a profession. In these countries, the teachers have much greater control over determining curriculum and direction of the schools than is the case in the US. This is the antithesis of what the current educational "reform" package proposes. Shouldn't we be following the model of successful countries? Why don't we follow Finland and Singapore and Canada. I want a system where teaching is a valued profession that attracts the brightest and best. I don't want a model that redistributing my tax money from the schools we have to untested corporations based on some naive faith that they have my children's best interests at heart.

Wendy, the crime rate in Saudia Arabia is pretty low, shouldn't we adopt their system of justice?

(Actually, some contend that the crime rate isn't as low as reported, but you get my point.)

Chris,

I wrote a response earlier, but it doesn't appear to have gone through. Basically, my point is that, as a community college instructor, I am well aware of the problems with our public education system. I believe wholeheartedly that every student should have access to the same high quality education. Governor Snyder's reforms, however, will give all students access to the same low quality education by diverting funds from well performing schools. The educational playing field does need to be leveled, but it needs to be leveled upward, not downward. The problem with public schools is not that the state and corporate CEOs don't have enough control over it. The problem is that professionals in the field, especially teachers, are not respected and often seen as the problem. In districts like ours here in Grosse Pointe, where students are given the resources they need to do their jobs effectively, we can see the results. In other local districts in our area, however, teachers are not treated as professionals, and we can see the results there as well.

If we can encourage local communities to work with their schools rather than against them, if we can start trusting professional educators instead of Lansing politicans to solve these problems, and if we can support teachers and schools, then students will succeed and families will thrive.

Christopher: It sounds like you are comparing apples and oranges. While you may know what a community college student needs (and lacks upon entry to your system) you acknowledge that GP schools are successful. The WSJ article suggests that suburban schools across the nation such as GP schools are NOT successful when compared to students in other countries. All this time, that would be prior to HB 5923 GP schools have had complete local control of the school system and the curriculum they wish to present to students. While the state mandates minimum requirements I don't believe they have ever prevented a school system from setting higher standards for achievement. Given the metrics that were cited in this WSJ article are from a few years back, all I am asking is why are GP schools not doing well in international measures or, for that matter, as well as the US schools cited in the article such as Evanston, Ill. If a parent realizes that their child must measure up to a flatter world of academic competition why deprive them from getting the curriculum that will allow them to reach that level -- any where, any time and any place?

While open enrollment isn't forced, allowing open enrollment choice for our students into other less rigorous programs is required, and GPPS acceptance of those classes for credit is required. What happens to your college apps when a GPPS diploma becomes so badly devalued?

Chris,

My only point in mentioning my college students is that I see what background they are coming in with, and I know what they are missing. I'm not suggesting that there aren't problems with our system, but I remain unconvinced that the reforms coming from Lansing politicians will fix the problem.

If we turn control of our children’s education over to politicians and CEOs, we have to understand that, while we may be successful at training our children to memorize information, we will not be solving the real problem. Our public schools do not do an effective enough job of teaching students to think critically about that information. In short, we don't teach kids why they need to know the information, or what they can do with it. Not to be too dramatic, but education is about improving quality of life. If we take a CEO mind set, we may improve test scores, which is nice, but it doesn’t solve the larger problem.

Hi Christopher, If I may add to your comment. We actually have two reps Mr. Banks & Mrs. Alberta Talibi. I will also add that I visited the Capitol two weeks ago with a group of students and had the opportunity to personally meet Mr. Banks and despite his personal short comings I believe that he will be a great supporter of GPPS and our interest. I believe that the Pointes will have a stronger supporter in him than Mrs. Talibi. Mr. Banks shared several policy issues and bills that he plans to introduce that I believe would support GPPS. I am not trying to have a back and forth debate on this Im just simply saying give the man a chance. He is one of our new reps and as I tell my students you get more bees with honey.

Clifford.... its about influence.

When Banks shows up on the national news as a joke, how many legislators in Lansing are going to line up with him? He may be some ghetto superstar, but his name was mud before he got a single vote.

Thus.... WE LOSE!

While his ability to leverage the political influence of GP to promote investments across his entire district may sound good on the capital steps and in front of school children, we all know its a ruse.

And Talabi... LOL... at least we agree on that waste of our tax revenue.

Feel free to call/write/email Snyder's office directly. Call/write/email Lisa Posthumus Lyons and Phil Pavlov, the Ed Committee chairs in the house and senate. Call every member of those committees.

The Oxford Plan was set to come out with a mandatory school of choice requirement. At the last minute it was mysteriously dropped. I'm placing my bets that it was dropped because concerned parents in districts like GPPS called/wrote/emailed en masse.

Mr. Clifford Cline, you obviously aren't paying attention. Either that or you don't have enough sense to know when you've been had, in which case you should not be teaching. Banks has a slick tongue and says exactly what people want to hear. He lied to the media saying he cleaned up his act, all while still committing fresh crimes. Give him a chance? Again? And again and again? How many chances should this felon get? What you should be telling your students is "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 12, 13, 14 ,15 times, shame on me." With logic like yours it's no wonder our schools are not turning out world-class performers. Based on your thinking, Kwame Kilpatrick should be reinstated as Mayor of Detroit. After all, he has fewer felony convictions than Banks. It’s depressing to think that we are paying your salary with our tax dollars.

You are missing the fact that GPPS diplomas could be had with a bunch correspondence courses. Do Gym and art at North, then take bio, chem, and calc online from some joke class and get the same diploma as my AP kid.

UofM then give no advantage to the high performer who's parents put in the sweat equity and a lot of big tax payments. The kid from Detroit gets another short-cut.

Leaving a crap school in the Detroit neighborhood just continues the madness. This plan does not address the real issue. A SCHOOL IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD THAT DOESN'T SUCK. Ultimately, who are you protecting the Detroit kid from? His own neighbors and family? Its a total cop-out in Lansing.

Nobody wins. That's why this whole thing is dumb.

Mary K, there are thousands of parents in Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Troy, Lake Orion, Clarkston, Rochester, and more who are worried about losing their public schools due to funding cuts that will occur with this legislation. It is patently unfair to siphon off kids who looking for easy classes at a flat 1/6 rate and leave behind all the expensive support at the public school - counseling, special ed, fine arts, SPORTS, etc. The public school will even have to do all the ACCOUNTING involved in paying fractions of foundation money to various unaccountable entities that can spring up.

In the end what the parents in Oakland County understand is that they won't HAVE a public school system to choose or fall back on. It will have collapsed under this Ponzi scheme.

Unless you truly believe that the Grosse Pointe bubble will protect you from everything bad in the world...prepare to become Indian Village North.

What Detroit Kid?????? Seriously?

If you take DPS kids looking for a better shot out of this conversation.... is there a conversation anymore?

The state is just re-shuffling a deck with 52 cards.

Has your hedge fund manager invested you in a charter cyber school, Mary K? Is that why you're so nonchalant about losing your property value when GPPS collapses?

Even Detroit Public Schools are complaining about these reforms. That is what you missed, along with the point that this proposed reform will destroy ALL public schools.

What's not old news is that the legislation is being pushed through quickly during this lame duck section. People need to get vocal. I agree we need a plan and I have faith the board will come up with one. They can only move within their legislated constraints, however. The financial situation is already dire.

dave, apparently you only drink Snyder kool aid and haven't bothered to read the discussion, or you'd understand why 4) is a problem.

Market forces and parental choice aren't always best for society at large.

This was on Craigslist yesterday:

(**Online Math and Assignment help**) (Detroit metro )
Date: 2012-12-03, 3:58PM EST
Reply to: see below

Do you need some help catching up on your school work? I can take your online class for you and help you keep up your GPA. We can handle all subjects for all courses including: Accounting, Finance, Economics, Statistics.
Call:######### (917)** 310**4695######

The unemployment rate in Oregon is 8.7%, which is almost a full percentage point above the national average. In rural areas, it's much worse.

By the way, who is watching these children when they take online classes? Do parents need to stay home, and not enter the workforce, so their children can attend school online?

Also, you say that online schools are necessary for the "multi-tasking" norm of today's world. Are you suggesting that children should be working during the day while juggling online school in their free time? Are they limiting online school to older children, who can enter the workforce? No, they aren't. Are elementary students supposed to be juggling online courses and home tasks, instead of learning how to listen to teachers, stay on task, and learn appropriate conversation skills with peers and adults? Bad idea if we want an effective workforce in the future. This is a bad idea.

Wendy: to be fair the unemployment rate in Michigan is 9.3%. The comments are not original, they were copied exactly from the Education Week announcement of the webinar they are sponsoring. Education Week is known as the American Education News Site of Record. I suspect a lot of educators consult this medium. I can't explain why Education Week is offering a webinar about how a k-12 school district handles on-line education nor why they chose the wording they have to describe the benefits to those who participate in the seminar. I merely point out that in some parts of the country, apparently, on line learning is happening and I would also point out that one of the topics covered is: "How to involve parents to keep them aware of their child's achievement or problem areas". I guess if educators across the nation were so opposed to on-line learning and teaching there would be no need to provide webinars on the topic.

Chris K, the Bend-La Pine online offerings are radically different than what is included in the legislative proposal. Bend-La Pine is in a mountainous tourist area. It offers online courses as a supplement to its regular school system for high school and remedial help. The Bend-La Pine program is run through its school district to meet the unique needs of its students. This is entirely different than what the Snyder package proposes, which is to allow students to take online courses across the state. Other school districts offering online classes can take our tax dollars away from our district. Not only can this cause a financial hit and a budgetary nightmare, but it also can dilute the quality of a diploma from a grosse pointe school. A student can graduate from our schools, but take online classes from whatever district he or she chooses. We will lose control over the arc of that child's education. Bend La-Pine still has that control over both education and funding, and it only allows the child online learning opportunities based on the district's approval and monitoring.