Proposed State Education Overhauls ‘Radical and Dangerous,' Superintendent Says

Area superintendents, including Rob Glass of the Bloomfield Hills Schools, collectively expressed grave concerns Tuesday regarding a 300-page bill drafted for Gov. Rick Snyder that would overhaul how public education is administered in the state of Michigan.

Calling Senate Bill 1358, House Bill 6004, and House Bill 5923 “radical and dangerous,” Oakland Schools Superintendent Dr. Vickie L. Markavitch told attendees at the Royal Oak Middle School gathering place “unbelievable things are happening in Lansing.”

Superintendents from Royal Oak, Lamphere, Clawson and Southfield joined Glass and more than 350 people during the afternoon and evening sessions of what was billed as a “call to action.”

“There is really important work that has to be done,” said Markavitch. “What’s worrying me about this work that has to be done is it’s being pushed forward so quickly, so fast and in such a rushed order that it’s almost faster than people can learn about it.”

The bills sitting before the lame duck session of Lansing would put students at risk with untested, untried forms of schooling, Markavitch said.

The warnings echoed at a meeting for residents hosted by officials with the Bloomfield Hills Schools with special guest Dave Randels, Assistant Director of the Office of Government Relations and Pupil Services for Oakland Schools Tuesday at the Doyle Center.

"Great night, well attended. Time to contact your legislators regarding the proposed "education reforms " on the fast track," commented Deb Shoultz on the district's Facebook page.

Talking points

Of HB 6004 and SB 1358 Markavitch had this analysis:

• The bills require the Michigan Department of Education to collect a list from all school districts of their unused buildings so they can be leased or sold to charter, nonpublic and EAA schools.“It’s about seizing buildings paid for with tax payer dollars,” Markavitch said.
• The EAA and its schools would not be subject to the same laws and provisions of public schools. “Maybe there is an agenda for special interests, who avoid prerequisites for quality and requirements of transparency…and who have no recognition or concern for research based best practices,” Markavitch said.
• The bills are also tied to HB 5923 or the “New Forms of School Bill," which would allow charter schools to specify the student body they want to serve. “How many of you on any given day would like to specify the student body that you serve? But we don’t. We serve them all. We love them all,” Markavitch said. “The bill allows for discrimination against students on any number things. A new and dangerous move and that is why I call it undemocratic and un-American.”

Podcast available

If you were unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting you can watch Markavitch’s presentation in a podcast by clicking this link.

In addition Oakland Schools offers these supporting articles, research and resources:

• Michigan’s Auditor General, a performance audit #032-0651-07, May 2009

• Michigan Education Dashboard

• Do we know if students are ready for college?

• College Readiness

Call to action

“For more than 20 years a group has been trying to get public money for private forms of education. In the old days this was called vouchers and the American people defeated this soundly. And, in Michigan it was defeated not once, but twice,” Markavitch said.

But the folks pushing it are persistent, and profiteers, Markavitch said, have since joined them trying to corporatize public education.

“How do we compete with a $1 million, maybe with a million voices,” the superintendent said. Markavitch asked people to take action and contact their legislators through the Tri-County Alliance for Public Education Legislative Action Center website, which helps users craft emails and encourage others to do the same.

“In education we can never afford to spin the data because we have real problems to solve. They look at us every day with real eyes. They listen to us with real ears. And, we can’t give them false data," said Markavitch.

For More:

• Your Guide to Michigan Education Reform Proposals
• See the list of remaining meetings scheduled throughout Oakalnd County
• Patch Blog:
• Patch Blog: Oxford Foundation posts draft on-line/seeks comments