Calling All (Education Committee) Legislators

A Favorite Quote

"It is not up to you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it."
(Rabbi Tarfon, Sayings of the Fathers)

Did You Already Write Your Legislators and the Governor?

[If not: Step 1 is to go to the Michigan Parents for Schools web site and use their nifty action alert system to contact them. Here is the link. It takes just a minute.]

If yes, then you may have already gotten a response from the Governor. A response that, as a friend of mine wrote to me, "didn't really answer any of the concerns I expressed about maintaining local input into schools and the possibility of profit motives undermining charter and other school 'reform.'" The letter just blathered on about wanting schools to be good (yes, we all want that) without making any note of the fact that the "Education Achievement Authority" (EAA) has absolutely no track record and may turn out to be a terrible program. (Sure--it could be great. That's what pilot programs are for--to prove that a program is worthy. However, according to MIPFS, "The EAA Chancellor, Dr. John Covington, argues that his system was tried successfully in his former district, Kansas City public schools. After his abrupt departure last year, the Kansas City schools lost their state accreditation, which gives us pause about the quality of the EAA's program.) [link]"

Bottom line: Taxpayers have the right to have input into schools. The Governor's children go to a very fine school in our fair county--Greenhills--but it is a) a private school with small class sizes; b) a not-for-profit school with a board of directors, and yes, parents have lots of input; and c) tuition is nearly $20,000, more than twice what the Ann Arbor schools get per pupil, and nearly three times what some other districts get. All I want is what he's got.

But I digress.

Here's the thing. No votes were taken today (even though both the Senate and House Education Committees met), but potentially votes may be taken tomorrow. We need to keep the pressure on.

Therefore, Let's Make Some Phone Calls

Steve Norton of Michigan Parents for Schools put out this email alert today, and it's useful because it has phone numbers. I don't think any of these legislators are in our county, but they are all on the House Education Committee and they will be voting on bills that affect us!

Action Alert To Public School Supporters!!! Please Forward!!!!

House Bill 6004 and Senate Bill 1358 must be stopped, and we need your help to stop them!!!! The bills would create a Governor-controlled Education Achievement Authority (EAA) that would usurp our local control and kill public education as we know it. We should be focusing on proven quality education reform, not setting up a system of "haves" and "have nots" that will make all of our state's children one large experiment. The following representatives sit on the House Education Committee, and your phone call could sway them to oppose the EAA--please call and tell them to stop the experiment and VOTE NO ON HB 6004:
Rep. Thomas Hooker (Maj. VC) (517) 373-2277
Rep. Jon Bumstead (517) 373-7317
Rep. Hugh Crawford (517) 373-0827
Rep. Ray Franz (517) 373-0825
Rep. Kurt Heise (517) 373-3816
Rep. Aric Nesbitt (517) 373-0839
Rep. Margaret O'Brien (517) 373-1774
Rep. Amanda Price (517) 373-0838
Rep. Deb Shaughnessy (517) 373-0853
Rep. Ken Yonker (517) 373-0840

Mapping Tool, or Charter Promotion Device?

(Post revised, 5/10/11, shortly after it was first published.)

Grand Valley State University has developed a mapping tool, found here, and as more Census 2010 data is published, I think it will be very useful.

However, full disclosure:

Mi-School.net was developed by the Grand Valley State University Charter Schools Office in collaboration with Grand Valley’s College of Education and Johnson Center for Philanthropy, as well as the Michigan Council for Charter School Authorizers

I was puzzled by this--why would the charter schools office be interested in developing a mapping tool? Now that I've looked over the web site a little, I think the answer lies in the Charter Applicant tab. I thought that this tab would take me to a special map of charter applicants. NO. That tab takes me to a tab on how to apply to be a charter school. Note that there is nothing wrong with telling people how to apply to be a charter school. However, it strikes me as a little bit underhanded to appear to be one thing (a cool mapping tool) but have a different primary objective. Nonetheless, it is a cool mapping tool, so caveat emptor (buyer beware)--it is, after all, free.



Here's the press release:

Grand Valley State University has developed a website designed to help Michigan residents and educators learn more about their schools and communities, and how they impact one another.
The website, Mi-School.net, combines 2010 U.S. Census data with information from the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Department of Community Health and local police departments and clerks. The website features visual markers that represent all traditional, charter and private schools in the state. Each marker representing a school can be selected to view information about that specific school and/or district including enrollment characteristics and standardized test performance.
Mi-School.net, is built on a platform similar to Google Maps and allows users to visually display information such as an area’s population, housing, vital records, crime, education, income, voting and transportation through color-coded maps. The site also features a comparison tool that allows users to compare up to five schools and/or districts using 40 different indicators.
Each data set can be narrowed to feature more specific information. For example, an area’s population can be analyzed based on total population, race, average household size, population under 5 years old or population under 18 years old. The geographic area being analyzed can be customized as well, featuring an area as large as the entire state or as small as a city block.

How Do You Brand That?

A couple of weeks ago, on a post I labeled The Great Experiment, I got this (anonymous) comment: 

There is another related quote in Sunday AA.Com from WISD superintendent Bill Miller. He talks about schools having to distinguish themselves and market their brand. This frightens me tremendously as I have already observed this going on both in a charter school and in AAPS high school. No one wants to be branded as "the school for average kids, the school for kids with social/learning problems, the school for kids whose parents don't care". Everyone wants to be the school/program/teacher for the advanced and there is a huge temptation to devote more and more resources to the students that can perform at the elite level. I hope that every parent that experiences this phenomenon speaks up and continues to speak up until the concerns are addressed (that may take a great deal of persistence).

I think this is a really interesting comment, given that the way our state statutes are written, your local public school is considered the default, and expected to serve everybody. How do you market that? It's much easier to market a specific idea.

For instance, I hate the Ann Arbor Public Schools "Excellence" campaign. A picture of a smiling teacher with smiling kids? How does that prove excellence? What are the chances my child would get that teacher anyway?
I like the Ypsilanti Public Schools "Strong from start to finish" campaign, because it communicates a specific idea. However, based on graduation rates, I think there are probably holes in that education, at least for some students.

In that sense, private schools have an easier time of it.

For instance, take Huron Valley Catholic. Their ad on a board on West Stadium drew my attention because (I can't remember the slogan right now) it uses the word "heart" and connects learning with warmth and emotion. I like that it immediately conveys a sense of the school. Their web site uses a different slogan, "Passion for learning, passion for Christ." That, too, conveys a sense of focus. Parents should know immediately if they would like to investigate further.

On the other hand, Huron Valley Catholic gets to choose who comes in their doors, and their admissions policy states,

1. Student must have a C+ or better (or equivalent) grade average in academic subjects during the past two years, with no failing grades (or equivalent), and an acceptable conduct/behavioral evaluation.
2. All new students entering grades 1 through 8 must take a math and reading test. Kindergarten students must take a readiness test as part of Kindergarten roundup. Students must score no more than one grade level lower than current grade. For example, a student in the 7th grade, 5th month of school should be able to perform at a minimum of 6th grade, 5th month level. (Emphases added.)

Note, I am not calling out Huron Valley Catholic about their requirements regarding behavior and grade level achievement. Lots of private schools have the same kinds of requirements. I'm just pointing out that it makes it unlikely that they will be educating a lot of kids with trouble learning because of learning disabilities, or poor prior educational circumstances, or severe attention deficit problems.  I'm just pointing out that public schools don't get to pass on those kids.

And yet, a public school campaign that started "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." would probably not work. (Apologies to the Statue of Liberty and Emma Lazarus, but you get the point.)

Which leads me to this question: What, exactly, is the brand that public schools are trying to achieve? On the one hand, my experiences with Community High School lead me to believe that a lot of people want a school with a "brand." I personally don't need a brand, but I like the idea of having a choice of schools. In Ann Arbor, I would love to see an arts magnet, I would love to see an immersion language magnet, I would love to see a science magnet. On the other hand, the mandate of the public schools is to serve the public. And don't we hope that all public schools will be excellent?

Really, how do you brand that?

Bits and More Bits

A new private high school, for high-functioning autistic students, is opening up. It's "faith-based." Based on the name, Veritas Christi, I would say it's Christian.

The East-Cross blog is reporting some truly alarming potential state budget cuts for the coming fiscal year. And we thought this year was bad.

The Saline High School principal reports, on Twitter, that the school honored 251 students with straight As at a recent event. Apparently, that is 13.6% of the student body. I know that I was in the top 10% of my high school graduating class, and I didn't have all As. Proof of grade inflation. Yet I'm not necessarily opposed.

I've written about early childhood education, and now--this just in: Washtenaw County Head Start is beginning the enrollment process for the 2010-2011 school year with Early Bird Registration, Wednesday, February 17 from 9 am-4 pm at the Head Start Grantee office located at 1661 Leforge Road in Ypsilanti. This is for families living in the Ypsilanti or Lincoln school districts, and for families living in Washtenaw County that are working full time or who are full time students.  Families must bring a copy of the child’s Birth Certificate, Proof of Income, and Proof of Residence.  If the child has a current physical and dental exam, families should bring those as well. Families will be served on a first come first serve basis.  For more information call 484-7119.  

David Jesse (along with some others) has been doing some extensive reporting on the Ann Arbor schools budget, and a limited amount of reporting on some of the other schools. The reporting is good; it is annoying that it is not easy to find all of the articles. Some--but not all--of them are under School Spending Report.

Noting the passing of: 

J.D. Salinger--Yes, I had to read Catcher in the Rye in middle school. I didn't like it. I tried again when one of my kids had to read it, and I still didn't like it. It seemed very male, and I really didn't like that he spelled crummy, crumby. Many years later, that still bugs me. 

Mary Daly--I was introduced to her writing in college, and it was hard! Beyond God the Father and Gyn/Ecology have hugely influenced feminist and environm

ental thought, and they were eye-opening for me. Talk about being a boundary-pusher! She was one. Howard Zinn--OK, I confess that I never made it all the way through A People's History of the United States, but I was happy to meet a teacher who used it in her social studies class. He had a lot of good ideas, and shared them in an accessible way. And until I read his obituary I didn't know he was a playwright, too. (That is the nice thing about obituaries. You find out interesting things about people.)

I have added the blog Foster Parenting Adventures to the blogroll on the right. The author is a school psychologist in an urban school district, and she recently became a foster parent, which is something I've thought about doing. I'd start reading with the first post.

How To Find A School Of Choice

This is a long overdue post I promised someone quite a while ago.
If you are a parent, looking for a school for your child, what are your choices? This is meant as a basic primer. To get you started, here is a somewhat complete (not entirely) list of choices.

Investigating will take some work. If you can't find what you want on the web site of the relevant school district or academy, then you might make a phone call--to the secretary or administrative assistant of the district superintendent or academy principal. Generally they know everything,  and if they don't they can find it out. [And if they don't help you, try the superintendent or academy principal directly.]

1. Neighborhood public school. Every home in the county is districted to a school district, and a school (or possible a choice of two schools) that may--or may not--actually be in the neighborhood.  Often your local school is a good option, but if not, there are some other possibilities.

2. In-district school choice. Many of the local school districts allow you to request an in-district transfer to another neighborhood school. I wrote about the Ann Arbor schools process here, and  I complained at the time that it was hard to find out about and was also named something that makes no sense to the people looking for it. For in-district school choice, choices are sometimes limited by grade (for instance, only open to first and third graders) or by number of spots. If you don't like your neighborhood school, but you've heard better things about a different school in the district, this might work for you.

3. In-district magnet programs. These programs are particular to a school district. Timing for applications varies, but generally will be after January first. Check the district web site or call. In some cases they might be open to kids from other districts. Magnet programs include gifted and talented programs, language immersion programs (not yet in this county), or an alternative school like Ann Arbor Open or Community High School. Districts can set their own rules for magnets--tests, lotteries, interviews, etc.

4. Out-of-district school choice. Other public school districts can become schools of choice, and they can open up their whole school district, or only certain grades or schools. For instance, they could open it up to K-1-2 only, and they could also restrict the number of openings if they want. Right now, as examples, Whitmore Lake and Ypsilanti schools have their entire districts open as schools of choice, and Saline is a limited school of choice district. Separate from the school of choice option, you can put in special requests, but they may or may not allow them. I wrote about this here and here. [If this is the option you are interested in, you should definitely read those posts.] Openings may be open to you even if you live in a different county, but the timing of the open application periods varies widely. On my facebook page the other day, I noticed ads from the Bloomfield Hills schools! Are you willing to drive? You will be responsible for transportation.

5. Charter Schools. Charter schools, also known as public school academies, are public schools of choice and they are not geographically restricted. If too many people want to get in to a particular school, they may have a lottery or some other method of choosing students. Someone asked me why there are more charter elementary and middle schools than high schools. High schools require more specialized teachers (thus they are more expensive), and they are also harder to run on a small scale. Everyone thinks that a first grade class of 15 is great; a tenth grade class with a total of 15 kids? Too small to differentiate instruction in math or give kids choices of a language... But in the high school arena, one option is the Washtenaw Technical Middle College which operates out of Washtenaw Community College. You can find the links to local charter schools, all of whom work with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, here. 
 
6. Consortiums. Lincoln, Willow Run, and Ypsilanti schools have a consortium that has kids learning at Eastern Michigan University. Find out about it here.

That's it for the totally free options. (Free to you as the consumer. You are paying taxes for those schools, after all.) Oh, wait--I forgot--some school districts that are not schools of choice may let you pay tuition to them, as if they were a private school. No, I am not making that up.

If you're interested in homeschooling, you will have plenty of company. Here is information on the Homeschoolers of Washtenaw, Clonlara and other groups (many of them are religious, but not all of them).

There are always parochial schools: one Muslim school, one Jewish school, several Catholic schools, lots of Protestant or more general "Christian" schools.

Local private, non-religious schools include those with Montessori and Steiner philosophies, as well as schools targeting "gifted and talented" kids, kids with learning disabilities, traditional prep schools, and alternative learning environments.

Entrance to Huron Valley Catholic

Entrance to Huron Valley Catholic School this morning

PRETTY!

Niche Marketing

This summer, at the Townie Fair right before Art Fair, one of the local private schools--Ann Arbor Academy-- had a table, with a big picture of a brain. It was part of advertising how their school deals with ADHD kids. I was surprised, but I guess I shouldn't have been. The way that private schools--and charter schools--compete is often by marketing to a specific subset of parents. That is very obvious with private parochial schools like Gabriel Richard High School, but it is sometimes a little less obvious with the charter schools (aka public school academies). Nonetheless, it is there.

Consider: Honey Creek--"The mission of Honey Creek Community School is to provide an education of the whole child emphasizing the integration of thought and experience by centering learning on themes and projects in a multi-age setting."
Consider: Central Academy--"Central Academy also has a strong ELL department that helps newcomers.  The school offers Arabic as a foreign language, a full day kindergarten, advanced classes, and a required dress code."

On the other hand, when a public school district tries some of its own niche marketing: alternative education programs like Community High School, magnet programs, or gifted and talented programs there is often some push-back. 

To me, that is a conundrum, because lots of families are looking for the "niche." People like me.