Some schools reluctant to ask for funding
Friday, January 8, 2010
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY and KAREN WORKMAN
Of The Oakland Press
Of The Oakland Press
A majority of Oakland County school districts have filed documents to support the state’s Race to the Top reforms — some of them reluctantly.
State officials urged district superintendents, board presidents and teacher union presidents to sign memorandums of understanding to show the Obama administration that Michigan should get up to $400 million of the $4.3 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for the improvements.
The documents commit the districts to creating and adopting a reform plan under recently approved Michigan Race to the Top legislation, as well as support a state plan not yet finalized.
If Michigan is one of the eight states to get the stimulus dollars, only the districts that signed the documents will receive funding.
Oakland Schools intermediate district and 18 of the county’s 29 school boards, including Clarenceville, had signed the memorandums by Thursday. Four signed messages of intent. They plan to sign memorandums Tuesday after review of the plan over the weekend, according to a list provided by Oakland Schools.
At least five boards, including Birmingham, Lake Orion, Novi, South Lyon and Walled Lake, have voted against signing the state-provided memorandums of understanding. Another planned to vote Thursday night and one district did not vote.
The legislation pushed by House Education Committee Chairman Tim Melton, DAuburn Hills, gives the state the power to take over poorly performing schools and open more charter schools while closing those that don’t perform. It allows districts to evaluate teachers and administrators based on student achievement and requires students to stay in school until they are 18.
The option to sign a message of intent and delay the decision on memorandums until Tuesday became available to districts Wednesday — after most boards had met and made their decisions.
The deadline for school districts to submit memorandums to their intermediate or regional districts was Thursday, and intermediate districts were to have them to the state by today. But state school Superintendent Mike Flanagan extended the deadline to give districts and union leaders until today to submit a letter of intent and until Tuesday to file their replies to Oakland Schools and then the state.
Oakland Schools Superintendent Vickie Markavitch said many school officials had concerns about making a commitment to a plan they hadn’t seen and details that may not be worked out for several weeks. One major barrier for some was the fear that if they voluntarily approved it they could be giving up their rights under the Headlee Amendment, which requires the state to pay for any mandated programs.
Several boards that signed the memorandums, including the Pontiac school board, got around this by including a clause in their resolution that they reserved the right to rescind their vote if they determined that implementing the finished plan was detrimental to their districts.
Kent Barnes, superintendent of Holly Area Schools said the Holly school board agreed to sign the memorandum Tuesday, but, as in most Oakland districts, the union president did not.
“I did ask the board to sign it. Did I have some concerns? Sure. One is that, as they say, the devil is in the details ... and what we don’t know right now would make a big book,” Barnes said.
“These monies are encumbered with certain strings attached and we don’t know what all the strings are yet,” he said.
“The bottom line for me was twofold — public schools have argued additional monies are needed for operations and I feared if we rejected the memo, we would be judged harshly by our community,” Barnes said.
Lake Orion and South Lyon school districts both had special meetings Thursday morning to vote on the memorandum and both boards voted unanimously against signing.
“We’re being asked to make decisions without having all the information,” said Ken Gutman, superintendent of Lake Orion Community Schools. “To be responsible, we have to know what all the ramifications of these decisions are.”
Among the reasons for voting against the memorandum: “It is an unfunded mandate,” Gutman said. “Second, the unknown obligations, both educationally and financially, are prohibitive, and then there’s the potential loss of collective bargaining rights.” He was referring to a clause added late this week in hopes of encouraging union presidents to commit to the plans.
“The financial obligations could be greater than what we would receive from Race to The Top funds,” Gutman said.
Even though Flanagan is making the plan available for districts to look at, Markavitch said there is concern the details may not all be worked out and the plan may evolve during the next several weeks as the federal requirements become clearer.
Markavitch said districts have to follow the state Race to the Top reform, whether they receive federal funding or not, but the cost may be higher than anticipated.
According to Oakland Schools’ attorney, if a board voluntarily approves a memorandum, it has basically waived the right to file a Headlee complaint that the state has imposed mandates for which the costs are not covered.
“What if it flies in the face of bargaining agreements or it costs the districts far more money than the money they are getting in?” Markavitch asked.
“That’s the reason districts are saying, once we see it or once we understand the full impact, we may need to rescind. If they decide to rescind after they have gotten the money, they have to give it back — even if they spent it,” she said.
State officials urged district superintendents, board presidents and teacher union presidents to sign memorandums of understanding to show the Obama administration that Michigan should get up to $400 million of the $4.3 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for the improvements.
The documents commit the districts to creating and adopting a reform plan under recently approved Michigan Race to the Top legislation, as well as support a state plan not yet finalized.
If Michigan is one of the eight states to get the stimulus dollars, only the districts that signed the documents will receive funding.
Oakland Schools intermediate district and 18 of the county’s 29 school boards, including Clarenceville, had signed the memorandums by Thursday. Four signed messages of intent. They plan to sign memorandums Tuesday after review of the plan over the weekend, according to a list provided by Oakland Schools.
At least five boards, including Birmingham, Lake Orion, Novi, South Lyon and Walled Lake, have voted against signing the state-provided memorandums of understanding. Another planned to vote Thursday night and one district did not vote.
The legislation pushed by House Education Committee Chairman Tim Melton, DAuburn Hills, gives the state the power to take over poorly performing schools and open more charter schools while closing those that don’t perform. It allows districts to evaluate teachers and administrators based on student achievement and requires students to stay in school until they are 18.
The option to sign a message of intent and delay the decision on memorandums until Tuesday became available to districts Wednesday — after most boards had met and made their decisions.
The deadline for school districts to submit memorandums to their intermediate or regional districts was Thursday, and intermediate districts were to have them to the state by today. But state school Superintendent Mike Flanagan extended the deadline to give districts and union leaders until today to submit a letter of intent and until Tuesday to file their replies to Oakland Schools and then the state.
Oakland Schools Superintendent Vickie Markavitch said many school officials had concerns about making a commitment to a plan they hadn’t seen and details that may not be worked out for several weeks. One major barrier for some was the fear that if they voluntarily approved it they could be giving up their rights under the Headlee Amendment, which requires the state to pay for any mandated programs.
Several boards that signed the memorandums, including the Pontiac school board, got around this by including a clause in their resolution that they reserved the right to rescind their vote if they determined that implementing the finished plan was detrimental to their districts.
Kent Barnes, superintendent of Holly Area Schools said the Holly school board agreed to sign the memorandum Tuesday, but, as in most Oakland districts, the union president did not.
“I did ask the board to sign it. Did I have some concerns? Sure. One is that, as they say, the devil is in the details ... and what we don’t know right now would make a big book,” Barnes said.
“These monies are encumbered with certain strings attached and we don’t know what all the strings are yet,” he said.
“The bottom line for me was twofold — public schools have argued additional monies are needed for operations and I feared if we rejected the memo, we would be judged harshly by our community,” Barnes said.
Lake Orion and South Lyon school districts both had special meetings Thursday morning to vote on the memorandum and both boards voted unanimously against signing.
“We’re being asked to make decisions without having all the information,” said Ken Gutman, superintendent of Lake Orion Community Schools. “To be responsible, we have to know what all the ramifications of these decisions are.”
Among the reasons for voting against the memorandum: “It is an unfunded mandate,” Gutman said. “Second, the unknown obligations, both educationally and financially, are prohibitive, and then there’s the potential loss of collective bargaining rights.” He was referring to a clause added late this week in hopes of encouraging union presidents to commit to the plans.
“The financial obligations could be greater than what we would receive from Race to The Top funds,” Gutman said.
Even though Flanagan is making the plan available for districts to look at, Markavitch said there is concern the details may not all be worked out and the plan may evolve during the next several weeks as the federal requirements become clearer.
Markavitch said districts have to follow the state Race to the Top reform, whether they receive federal funding or not, but the cost may be higher than anticipated.
According to Oakland Schools’ attorney, if a board voluntarily approves a memorandum, it has basically waived the right to file a Headlee complaint that the state has imposed mandates for which the costs are not covered.
“What if it flies in the face of bargaining agreements or it costs the districts far more money than the money they are getting in?” Markavitch asked.
“That’s the reason districts are saying, once we see it or once we understand the full impact, we may need to rescind. If they decide to rescind after they have gotten the money, they have to give it back — even if they spent it,” she said.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Some Michigan school districts are choosing to not participate in the state’s plan to try and win up to $400 million in federal cash for schools.
Several Oakland County school districts are among those saying Friday they won’t sign documents endorsing Michigan’s Race to the Top plan.
That means those districts wouldn’t get money from the Obama administration competition even if Michigan is chosen as one of the program’s state-level winners.
State applications for Race to the Top are due Jan. 19. Most states won’t win any money from the competition even though they’re agreeing to widely change education policy.
Some of the Michigan districts choosing to not endorse the plan have very little financial incentive to participate. Bloomfield Hills would get only $43,000 from the program.
Districts shun federal money
Leaders say Race to the Top goal unclear
By LORI HIGGINS
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
Some metro-area school leaders are refusing to sign agreements that would assure they could share in up to $400 million in federal stimulus funds — money that will be awarded to states with innovative plans to reform schools.
It is unclear whether the lack of signatures will affect the state’s application for the grant from the Race to the Top program. Federal officials have said it is imperative tohave support from local dis tricts — school boards, admin istrators and union officials. But a consistent concern school leaders raise is the lack of clarity in what Michigan’s plan will include. Districts had to submit the agreements by the close of business Friday, before the Michigan Depart ment of Education posted a fi nal summary of its plan..
And for many school officials opting not to sign, the uncertainty isn’t worth the little money they would receive. Birmingham Public Schools, for instance, stood to receive only $60,000. The amount depends on how many low-income students a district educates.
“They didn’t feel it would be responsible to sign something that lacked clarity. It committed us to adopt a plan that isn’t yet finalized,” said district spokeswoman Marcia Wilkinson.
School boards in Bloomfield Hills, Eastpointe, Lake Orion, Novi, Richmond, South Lyon and Walled Lake also opted not to sign. The board in Berkley took no action.
Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the education department, said the refusal to sign “is troubling” at a time when “education is paramount and every penny counts.”
In Bloomfield Hills Schools, where the Board of Education decided Thursday night not to sign the agreement, there were broader issues than the lack of clarity. In a letter sent to parents and staff, Superintendent Steven Gaynor said he’s concerned that the Race to the Top grant ties teacher evaluations to student achievement.
Gaynor said there is no evidence that linking the two is effective, and he said he’s concerned that teachers fearful for their jobs will be forced to teach to the state exams “to the exclusion of all other worth while instruction now going on in Bloomfield Hills Schools.”
But Ellis responded that “it no longer matters” now that the governor has signed legislation that requires districts to use student achievement growth to evaluate teachers.
“It’s now state law,” she said.
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