Bledsoe to Seek Constitutional Amendment to Protect Local Schools

Rep. Tim Bledsoe wants to put a stop to Lansing legislators meddling with local school boards, according to his weekly Capitol Update. 

He plans to introduce a constitutional amendment next week that will create protection of local school board decisions as well as fund equity balances from Lansing. Bledsoe has named the amendment the Local Schools Bill of Rights.

The amendment includes protection for:

• enrollment policies
• curriculum
• school year calendars
• fund equity balances

Additionally, the amendment requires that consolidation result only after a majority of voters from both school districts decide the issue at the polls. 

The constitutional protections would remain in effect as long as a district maintains academic standards and financial requirements. If either of these measures fell below expectations, the protections would no longer be in place and Lansing legislators would have the power to step in to address it. 

According to Bledsoe's Capitol Update, he learned just how little protection a local school board has from Lansing while researching and .

Testimony provided this week , privatizing teachers, unlimiting the cap on charter schools and more, only further convinced Bledsoe the amendment was necessary.

As written in his Capitol Update:

"When the Senate Education Committee began hearings on the current package of bills, the lead witness, a prominent charter school advocate, talked with delight of the Legislature's complete authority to do as it pleased with local schools.

I watched his presentation with shock and horror: Lansing politicians seeking to run all local schools in our state is a frightening prospect. If adopted, my constitutional amendment will ensure that this does not happen in the future."

Meanwhile, Bledsoe is still campaigning against the mandate of Schools of Choice. He intends to release the details of a survey he's been asking constituents to complete about their expectations of the local school district in about two weeks. 

The survey has garnered more than 1,000 responses—a record-setting number of responses anyone in the Michigan Legislature has ever received, Bledsoe told Patch earlier this week. He highlighted the high number of responses in his Capitol Update as well.