What they said......

Melton responds to schools’ criticism

Sunday, November 30, 2008 12:51 AM EST
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAYOf the Oakland Press

PONTIAC – In reaction to a slam by Pontiac Board of Education President Damon Dorkins over a bill on failing school districts, state Rep. Tim Melton said the Pontiac school district won’t be affected by the bill if it succeeds in restructuring efforts.Pontiac school board members were insulted by introduction of the bill while they work on restructuring district schools.

The bill, introduced by Melton, would require districts with failing schools to hire state-approved experts to run them. Dorkins’ comments were quoted in a story in Wednesday’s Oakland Press.

Melton, D-Auburn Hills, chairman of the House Education Committee, was out of town and unavailable for comment, but his legislative aide spoke on his behalf for the story.

Melton said: “This (bill) is not an attack on the Pontiac school district. It’s not about them. The bill is meant to help kids in the poverty-stricken urban areas throughout Michigan.”Dorkins said Melton is trying to dictate to Pontiac school board. He said Melton should give Pontiac schools a chance to complete the restructuring process it has undertaken before he moves the bill forward in the state House. Or at least, include in it that schools under restructure should not be included.

Melton said: “If they restructure their schools this year, their clock would start all over. If Pontiac comes off the list, and I hope they come off the list ...” the district would no longer fall under the criteria of the legislation, he said.“I sit on the reform board. This isn’t about me and them. It is creating a structure” to reform struggling school districts,” he said. “Sometimes we need outside forces to get it done.”

Melton said only 27 schools in the state meet the criteria of a “failing school ” covered by his bill. They include Pontiac Northern and Central high schools. About 60 of the state’s high schools have not made adequate progress for more than four years.

To fall under the mandates of the bill, the school must meet all of several criteria, not just the “adequate yearly progress standard,” Melton said.

The bill targets schools that have not met the No Child Left Behind Act’s definition of adequate yearly progress (AYP) for four straight years or more, and whose test scores fall below 30 percent proficiency in both math and English. Only the total AYP for a school is considered, not the AYPs for subgroups.“Are these schools struggling? I think they are. Can these kids learn? Yes,” Melton said.

“There are things that have been done in other urban cites with high poverty rates, and they have worked,” Melton said.

He has encouraged the Pontiac community-school restructuring committee to recommend hiring an outside firm to operate Pontiac high schools as part of the district’s redesign.

Things that have worked around the nation include operating a building independently from the district; waiving union bumping rights for that school; and tailoring curriculum specifically to that school, Melton said.“At some point, the Legislature has to say there is a line and we are not giving up on these kids,” Melton said. “Kids in high-poverty areas are not getting an education and employers go elsewhere” to hire.

He added this lack of education isn’t fair to the children and hurts their future.“Seventy percent of kids in failing schools are not proficient. Something drastic needs to happen. This didn’t happen overnight. This is bigger issue that effects the entire economy.”

For his part, Dorkins points to acting Superintendent Linda Paramore, who was hired through the Oakland Schools intermediate district as an expert that Pontiac brought in to help solve the district’s problems.

Proposals include merging the two high schools and dividing the students into four smaller schools. The board will vote on the recommendations in February.

Melton said he hopes the Pontiac restructuring proposals work. But he noted that leadership has frequently changed in the district, which now has an acting superintendent and expects to hire a new superintendent soon.“How long have we been looking at reforms in Pontiac?” Melton said.

Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at (248) 745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.