The Michigan legislature’s proposed “Parent Empowerment Reform” could drastically impact funding for Birmingham Public Schools.
The package of Senate Bills 618-624 was introduced to the floor September 7, proposes sweeping education reforms that are aimed at transforming Michigan’s educational system.Under these bills, the state would see an increase in charter and cyber schools. A provision also calls for mandating schools of choice.
“This bill enables parents to choose the best educational opportunities for their children and it allows schools to innovate and excel,” bill sponsor, Senator Phil Pavlov [R-St. Clair], said in an October 6 press release. “We must not lose sight of what is best for our kids’ education when we discuss these issues.”
However, bills like these are intended for failing communities and school districts, according to BPS Superintendent David Larson said.
“We don’t have the achievement problems that some of the local public schools do,” Larson said. “The measures aren’t for us.”
According to Larson, 80 percent of charter schools serve children K-8 with the same perstudent funding as in public schools. All public districts have comprehensive high schools. High schools are the most expensive schools to fund.
“[It is] unfair to get the same funding but then you don’t have to run a high school,” Larson said.
In some cases companies are brought in to run the charter schools. These companies can be local, out of state, or even from another country. Research shows that charters spend 45% on instruction while public schools spend 54%.
Cyber schools are also a large concern for Larson when it comes to this bill package.
“There is no scrutiny, so a cyber online company can come into state and make money,” Larson said.
There are currently two cyber schools that the state allows districts to tap into for online classes.
Currently, students who are being homeschooled take a large portion of their classes online. Under Bill 624, students taking online education would be paid for by the local public schools.
“Some home-school families can decide if they want their kid to take credits online and have the local public school pay for it,” Larson said.
If this bill passes, funding for BPS schools will decrease, and public school teacher jobs could also be in jeopardy, according to Birmingham Education Association President Scott Warrow.
“A large amount of teachers could be laid off, programs could be cut, and class sizes would be higher,” Warrow said.
Teachers going from a public school job to a charter school could face anywhere between a $20,000 and $40,000 pay cut, according to Warrow.
By law, public schools have to be made available to all students, no matter what skill level or special needs. Charter schools are owned by a private cooperation and have the right to discriminate against particular student groups. They choose who can and can’t attend that particular school, according to Larson.
“Traditionally they have not been favorable towards students with special needs in education because they are more expensive to educate,” Warrow said.
The timing of this bill comes during a time when there is a national movement towards online education, according to Larson.
At the November 1 Birmingham Public School Board meeting, board members approved a resolution opposing bill 618-624.
“For most of us, uncapping the charter schools and uncapping the cyber schools -- it’s a lot of legislation that doesn’t have checks and balances in place,” BPS President Susan Hill said.
The BPS resolution against the bills did not include any specific suggestions or ideas towards the bill. It only stated that this wasn’t a good bill for the district, according to BPS Board Trustee Robert Lawrence.
Though the board opposed the bill 5-0, two board members, Lawrence and Chris Conti, chose to abstain from voting.
“My abstention was based on my position that the resolution was poorly crafted,” said Lawrence who, along with Conti, was reelected to the school board on November 8. “My experience with legislators in Lansing is that they respond better to people who offer positive suggestions or solutions to the problems they are attempting to address. Our resolution didn’t do that.”
Lawrence, told the Highlander he believes bills like this are aimed towards failing school districts, not districts like BPS.
“I wanted to see a resolution which focused on making the package of bills better by including provisions for accountability, transparency, manageable limits, and guaranteed face to face teaching time with certified teachers in the cyber bill,” Lawrence said.
Hill said she supports her fellow board members’ decision to abstain from the vote.
“We are seven individuals with seven different points of view,” Hill said.
Conti, the BPS Board Secretary, said in a November 7 email to the Highlander his decision not to vote came from his lack of knowledge about the bill at the time of voting.
“I don’t know the particulars of any of these bills to make an educated and informed decision at this time,” Conti said.
Overview Of
Parent
Empowerment
Bills
(SB 618-624)
SB 618- Removes the
cap on authorized charter
schools
SB 619- Amends the
School Code to expand
opportunities for cyber
charter schools and Cyber
schools will no longer
be limited to just two contracts
statewide. Also eliminates
the enrollment cap
for cyber charters.
SB 620- Creates Michigan
conversion schools and allows
51 percent of parents
or teachers at a school to
petition their district to
convert the school into a
conversion school.
SB 621- Allows non-public
school students to obtain
part-time services from a
school district in the same
or contiguous intermediate
school district
SB 622- Eliminates current
grade and age requirements
for high school
students seeking dual enrollment,
also allows nonpublic
school students to
participate in dual enrollment
with state aid.
SB 623- Allows non-public
school students to dual
enroll in career/technology
education programs
under the same guidelines
as in SB 622.
SB 624- Amends the
School Aid Act to expand
current schools of choice
programs to any student to
any district, and requires
a district to admit from its
waiting list in the second
semester or trimester if
space becomes available.
