Contact your state representative and urge them to eliminate job killing provisions inserted into House Bill 4788 (HB 4788). The bill would mandate that the privatization of support staff would be subject to collective bargaining. Whoever (Rep. Bert Johnson and Tim Melton) slipped this garbage into this legislation should be subject to mandatory drug screening. That may seem harsh but consider this, in Birmingham we contracted our transportation and custodial services. This was not an easy decision, but we SAVED over $3.5 MILLION annually by doing this. Where did that money go? It went to KEEP TEACHERS EMPLOYED. Out of all the school districts in Oakland county we are the only one that did not announce massive teacher layoffs for the coming school year. This is why districts contract non-classroom services, to save money for programs and teachers. Why in the world would these two legislators insert job killing language in the face of the worst economic crisis Michigan has ever faced? As I speculated, maybe a test is in order.
Contact your representative and urge them to eliminate the changes to PERA from HB 4788, or ask them to remove the "tie bar" to the other education bills. The "tie bar" is a tactic to gain approval of multiple bills together. This bill has been tie barred to House Bills 4787 and 4789.
The following is an edited letter to my state legislative representatives:
School boards across the state requested a change to the sinking fund legislation to support technology and infrastructure needs. In exchange we got a sharp finger in the eye and rhetoric about taxes. These are not partisan issues, they are issues of survival. State aid will cut $370 per student at the very end of our school year. Stimulus dollars are supposed to fill the gap but many districts will have to borrow to get reimbursement. Next year is worse with a $590 per student shortfall, and not enough stimulus dollars to fill the gap. In 2010/11 the prospects are gruesome with projected shortfalls of nearly $1,000 per student and NO stimulus offset. For Birmingham, that wipes out ALL foundation allowance increases since 1994.
Voter approved sinking funds could offset some of this disaster while limited to an amount equal to the depreciation proxy of their physical asset base. But stronger state wide action is needed to save public education.
Birmingham has cut over $22 million from our budget over the last 7 years. We took the controversial (but correct) step of contracting our transportation and custodial providers. We trimmed administrative costs. We consolidated buildings years ago. We’re happy to share our insights.
Justifiably or not the House, the Senate, and the Governor are all perceived as contributing to a culture of "no" when presented with alternatives to the status quo.
For my State Representatives, here’s some ideas: 1. Get a statewide healthcare plan for teachers AND public employees. Set us on equal footing with the union monopoly and take advantage of scale. 2. Adopt the changes in sinking fund language, voters are grownups and they can decide. 3. Reform the pension funds -- under traditional accounting the state of Michigan would be functionally bankrupt when allocating the need to fund the actuarially accrued liabilities of the system (a shortfall of over $30 BILLION for teachers alone). 4. Mandate minimum district sizes - nothing under 4,000 students. 5. Mandate publicly disclosed negotiating positions for collective bargaining of public unions; this is my money I deserve to know how it is being bargained. 6. Mandate MESSA refund its cash holdings to districts and teachers - that is quick way to get $350 MILLION back to schools.
The savings are out there, but political will is required. Call your legislators and demand action today, tomorrow is too late.
From Oakland Schools and Judith Allen, the Director of Government and Community Services: the estimated short fall in the school aid fund for the current year (2008-09) will be $420 to $450 million (or about $258 to $277 per student). Next year (2009-10) things get worse with a shortfall of $800 million to $1 billion (or about $492 to $615 per student). To put that in perspective, over the next TWO YEARS school aid funding will be short between $750 to $892 per student measured against the baseline of projected 2008-2009 funding. That range equates to approximately 8 years of foundation allowance increases.
Typical of Lansing the funding gap will reportedly be filled with the $1.3 billion State Fiscal Stabilization funds (ARRA - a/k/a American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) while very little or no consideration is given to necessary reorganizations required of systemic costs and revenues. What Judith’s memo highlights is the need for districts to “apply” through MEGS (Michigan Electronic Grants System) for the ARRA State Fiscal Stabilization dollars” to get the funding. So while the state funds will not be there to fund the current foundation allowance, districts will have to apply to the grant making bureaucracy to request money to just make up the difference -- any bets on how that process get manipulated?
What happens when the “stimulus money” is gone? School budgets will be faced with massive funding gaps; remember nearly 90% of school funding goes to salary and benefit costs so much of that funding gap will negatively affect staffing. Think of it this way, if funding vaporizes after the “stimulus money” trick, school aid allowances will revert to a level equal to a ZERO percent (0.00%) increase since 2001-02. Dramatic cuts will be required in the 2010-11 school years.
For Birmingham that equates to a funding gap equal to $6.1 to $7.3 million, and up to $8 million or more with the ISD PA 18 cuts. Any school district can do the same basic analysis, take the expected per student shortfall of $750 to $892 per student, and multiply by projected enrollment in the year 2010-2011. It’s an ugly picture but it is the reality all districts must plan for going forward.
Educators and politicians have been touting twenty-first century skills since the late twentieth century. On occasion the descriptions resonate with the audience, at other times they fall flat and leave listeners confused. I encountered an example of how these skills can intersect in a wonderful video.
The producers of the video have a simple mission: spread world understanding and peace through music. On the surface it can be dismissed as a “very nice thing to do” without a passing thought. On a deeper level it opens the door to multiple avenues of learning for students. Watch the video and think about these things:
Where are the performers located geographically? What are the political situations in those locations? What are the economic and social conditions? What do these people have in common? What do you think about the mission behind the message? How will the internet facilitate the communication of the organization’s goals? What tools were used to create this collaboration? Would the “cause” have been as interesting if it were presented in simple written form?
It is the last questions, in my mind, that highlight the reason behind incorporation of “21st Century” skills into curriculum. Reason and understanding cannot come without mastery of fundamental skills learned by all students (reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.), but the conveyance of what is learned and created with these skills is the focus. The “new” skills and tools enhance the message; they also enhance the process of learning and understanding.
Among the many great things that happen outside of the classroom in the Birmingham School district is support for and participation in the Science Olympiad. To capture how much fun the students had, and how much they learned, I've posted a short video of this years event. When you click on the video it should play in HD, if not, choose that option in the lower right and make sure to keep it wide screen so it will fit.
The teachers, administrators, support staff and parents that attended this years event on a beautiful Saturday morning clearly had a great time.
The MEA, through it’s subsidiary the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA), is diverting over $367 million in badly needed funds from classrooms. It does this through its practice of reselling Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance products under it’s own banner. The Hay Group Report shows that on average MESSA is the most expensive program of all other choices. It's simple math, Blue Cross makes a markup, then MESSA makes it mark up and the cost goes up.
MESSA's balance sheet (show below) quantifies the true cost of this manipulation. As of the most recent audit (full 2008 report here) MESSA has earned and holds over $365 million; it would be $394 million if MESSA was not forced to disclose $28 million in pension liabilities for MESSA staff. MESSA claims a portion of the reserves are for rate stabilization. This is a marketing claim because MESSA is not required to hold reserves. The truth is that Blue Cross Blue Shield is required to hold these reserves because they are the actual insurance provider, not MESSA.
From MESSA’s own 2007 financial statement (page 11 of MESSA financial statement), the reserves belong to “our members and their school districts.” REALLY? OK, I want MESSA to return our share of these “reserves” back to my district -- or failing that, return it to my employees because it is part of their negotiated compensation. Of course I will not hold my breath, MESSA will not even comply with state law which requires disclosure of experiential data (Public Act 106), the law is over a year old and MESSA has not complied (MESSA has no excuse for this, their systems are fully capable of producing this data).
About that $28 million in MESSA pension liabilities: a part of this is attributable to a nonconforming, and underfunded pension plan. Why is it nonconforming? The main reason is to cover extra pension contributions for executives earning over $225,000 per year. Is this really in the best interest of the public employees “covered” by this organization? These are employees that are at significant risk because of massive funding shortfalls at the state level. We ALL need to aggressively cut costs to save the jobs of the people that matter the most -- the teachers in the classrooms.
MESSA is redundant organization (Blue Cross Blue Shield already provides the same administrative functions) that marks up its product (which is buys from Blue Cross Blue Shield), and withholds the rebates it earns through the good health of its members (rebates given by Blue Cross Blue Shield to reflect cost savings) so it can fatten its executive ranks and manipulate its own political objectives (by deciding when and where to change the rate it charges for its Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance). The MEA is selling its members short, it should live up to its own words and recognize that these funds belong to “our members and their school districts.”
A refined presentation of a brilliant idea from Karl Fisch from his web site The Fischbowl. It's a compelling remix of an inspired presentation which attempts to present just how much our world is changing, how quickly we are adapting, and how far we have to go. The quiet question is what should, could, or need we do to embrace the future; not only as Americans but as a world community.
As the presentation is designed to provoke conversations I'd like to start a thread: a data point in the video reveals that the average learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they are 38. How can teachers, locked into a system that does not promote professional flexibility, relate to or comprehensively prepare today's learners for this reality? Is there a way to provide more professional flexibility for teachers today? What would have to change to allow for such a departure from the norm?
I've lived in this area for most of my life and for decades I've worked for, waited for, wished for, and even prayed for the impending "revival" of Detroit. As a commercial loan officer for what was the National Bank of Detroit I participated in many initiatives which targeted redevelopment of the city. I saw many good people achieve nominal, but typically small, levels of success toward that goal. I was always struck by the hope and vision of these well meaning and resourceful individuals. A common thread tying these personalities together was a wish for the emergence of transformative political leadership. I shared that wish, I remain disappointed.
The Detroit City Council's rejection of a regionally cooperative renovation of Cobo Arena is a potentially crippling setback for a city and a region that cannot stand anymore set backs. I hope the Mayor's veto of this ill advised rejection stands, and I hope that we all continue the work of moving forward, because the price of falling backward is unimaginable.
One vision of a backward path for Detroit can be seen below - It is a small pre-production film which paints a sometimes sad, yet accurate and eye opening tale of our town. A person in the film talking about the People Mover informs us that when it was built there "were hopes of going farther, but they were never realized...." So, where do we go from here?
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Contact your state representative and urge them to eliminate job killing provisions inserted into House Bill 4788 (HB 4788). The bill would mandate that the privatization of support staff would be subject to collective bargaining. Whoever (Rep. Bert Johnson and Tim Melton) slipped this garbage into this legislation should be subject to mandatory drug screening. That may seem harsh but consider this, in Birmingham we contracted our transportation and custodial services. This was not an easy decision, but we SAVED over $3.5 MILLION annually by doing this. Where did that money go? It went to KEEP TEACHERS EMPLOYED. Out of all the school districts in Oakland county we are the only one that did not announce massive teacher layoffs for the coming school year. This is why districts contract non-classroom services, to save money for programs and teachers. Why in the world would these two legislators insert job killing language in the face of the worst economic crisis Michigan has ever faced? As I speculated, maybe a test is in order. 
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