March 18, 2014
Headlines
A News Report for Michigan Education Leaders
New Report: Lawmakers Should Slow Virtual School Expansion
Until More Student Achievement Information is Available
M
ichigan and 29 other states
should slow down before
thinking about the further expansion
of virtual schools until more student
data is available, according to a new
report by the National Education Policy Center. The report found students
in virtual schools are not performing
as well as students in other schools.
The two-year study examined
changes in virtual school legislation in
30 states where the schools currently
operate. The study concluded that
many of those states’ legislative bodies have failed to address the concern
of how virtual schools are educating
students. Virtual schools enroll nearly
250,000 elementary and secondary
students in 39 states and Washington,
D.C., a hike of 21.7 percent in the past
two years.
The report also found that for-profit
virtual school provider, K12, oper-
ates about one-third of the nation’s
full-time virtual schools with nearly
90,000 students.
It specifically calls out Michigan for
its passage of Public Act 129 of 2012,
which lifted the cap on virtual charter
schools. It claims lawmakers passed
the law without having any evidence
that the schools have been successfully educating students.
The authors of the report go on to
state, “this potential massive expansion of full-time K-12 online learning
in Michigan was not justified either
by the performance of the state’s
existing online charter schools or by
the existing research into full-time
online learning.”
Western Michigan University
Professor Gary Miron, who specializes in evaluation, measurement and
research, and has an extensive background in evaluating school reforms
Don’t Count on Snow Days Forgiveness
M
any school districts across
the state are wondering what
is going to happen with House Bill
5285, introduced by Rep. Phil Potvin
(R-Cadillac). This bill, similar to one
passed last year, would allow a district
to extend the length of the remaining
school days to make up for days lost
due to inclement weather above the
allotted six. Last year’s legislation took
most of the spring to make it to the
Governor’s desk and we have heard
from districts that are waiting for that
to happen again.
Last week at the MASA/MASB
Legislative Conference, Rep. Bill Rogers
(R-Brighton), the chair of the House
K-12 committee where HB 5285 has
been assigned, announced that he
believes districts should make up the
days rather than add time onto the end
of the day. MASA and MASB agree
and have both taken positions this year
opposing the legislation saying that,
for many districts, the amount of days
missed is just too much to be forgiven.
Few would argue that 30 minutes added
Snow Days, continued on Page 10
and education policies, said the evidence that virtual schools are underperforming is “overwhelming.”
“Across all measures of school
performance, including AYP status,
school performance ratings, student
results on standardized tests and
Virtual Schools, continued on Page 4
inside this issue:
Legislative Conference Attendees Help to
Postpone EAA Expansion Vote in the House. . 3
Michigan Teacher Included in NSBA’s “20 to
Watch” Education Technology Leaders. . . 4
MASB Helps to Support a Culture of
Reading in Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Achievement Isn’t Just for Kids!. . . . . . . . 6
Six Simple Steps to Standing Up 4 Public
Schools: Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Executive Search Services Superintendent
Vacancies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Legislative Update
Legislative Conference Attendees Help to Postpone EAA Expansion
Vote in the House
T
hank you to all of the board
members and superintendents
from around the state who came
together at the Lansing Center for
the annual MASA/MASB Legislative
Conference. Despite the weather, we
had over 200 attendees!
The conference began with a legislative panel featuring Reps. Brandon
Dillon (D-Grand Rapids), Ellen Cogen
Lipton (D-Huntington Woods) and
Bill Rogers (R-Brighton). Facilitated
by Tim Skubick, the discussion
started with the topic of snow days.
An overwhelming majority of the
attendees indicated that their districts
would have to make up time this year.
Many supported adding full or half
days onto the schedule versus adding minutes to the day. Rep. Lipton
indicated her support for local control
and allowing the superintendents
and boards to determine how best to
make up the time.
Rep. Rogers discussed the budget process and touched on the
“Classrooms and Kids” alternative
budget proposal supported by MASA
and MASB. He said that while there
were some good points to it that were
worth discussing, he didn’t expect to
incorporate it into this year’s budget. In their afternoon meetings, our
members were armed with talking
points on this proposal to convince
their legislators to change Rep.
Rogers’ mind.
Reps. Dillon and Lipton explained
their plan for turning around our lowest performing schools. They have
introduced a two-bill package that
would lay out specific steps for a dis-
Clockwise from top left: Facilitator Tim Skubick poses questions to Reps. Bill Rogers, Ellen Cogen Lipton and Brandon
Dillon; Bob Kefgen and Sarah Lenhoff discuss teacher and administrator evaluations; conference attendees meet
with their representatives outside the House chamber; and Bethany Wicksall talks about the School Aid budget.
trict to take well before being turned
over to an emergency manager or the
Education Achievement Authority.
Their plan, House Bills 5268 and
5269, would include comprehensive
school audits, and the monitoring and
implementation of a transformation
program. Much of this would be done
at the local and ISD levels, not the
state level. House Bill 5269 would create a study to determine what it actually costs to educate a child.
After the panel, attendees were
able to participate in two different
breakout sessions. The first choice
was a legislative update by MASB’s
Government Relations staff. They
covered a variety of topics in detail,
such as the Classroom and Kids
budget and EAA expansion. The
second session was on the School
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Aid budget with a presentation by
Bethany Wicksall from the House
Fiscal Agency and Becky Rocho from
Calhoun ISD. This session was a popular one as it went over the numbers
we expect to see this year and some
recent history of the School Aid Fund
revenues.
The third session was on teacher
and administrator evaluations. Bob
Kefgen of the Michigan Association
of Secondary School Principals and
Sarah Lenhoff of Education Trust–
Midwest discussed the current law,
as well as pending legislation. The
final session to choose from was on
financially struggling school districts.
Two officials with the Department
of Treasury and Carol Wolenberg,
Legislative, continued on Page 14
3
Michigan Teacher Included in NSBA’s “20 to Watch” Education
Technology Leaders
T
he National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network recently announced its
“20 to Watch” honorees for 2013-2014.
These distinctive education leaders
from across the country are being
recognized for their ability to inspire
colleagues to incorporate innovative
technology solutions that contribute
to high-quality learning environments
and more efficient school district operations.
“The ‘20 to Watch’ honorees offer
real-world examples of how new
technologies are being used to impact
learning and how these new tools
may influence or inform policy,” said
Thomas J. Gentzel, NSBA’s executive
director. “From ‘BYOD’ and the Maker
Movement to virtual schools and the
increased use of the cloud, these inspirational pioneers are paving the way.”
Included in this recognition is
Michigan teacher Brad Waid from
Eastover Elementary, Bloomfield Hills
Schools. Waid goes beyond showing
his students technology, he lets them
explore it and more importantly, have
a voice in deciding how they think it
could be used in their classroom. His
students are using and creating their
own Augmented Reality to enhance
their learning and deepen their
engagement, while utilizing their iPads
for various projects. Waid’s contagious
passion for teaching and learning has
made him a game-changing educator.
Ann Flynn, NSBA’s director of education technology, shared that common characteristics across honorees
include their willingness to take risks,
share learnings with colleagues and
inspire others to believe that they can
effectively use technology too. “Their
voices and experience will inform
local, district, and state approaches
to education technology decisions
for years to come,” Flynn said. This
is the eighth year of the NSBA “20 to
Watch” program, created in 2006. This
year’s honorees are being recognized
at the 2014 Consortium for School
Networking Conference on March
19 in Washington, D.C., along with a
TLN-hosted luncheon at NSBA’s 2014
Annual Conference in New Orleans
this April. TechSmith Corporation is
sponsoring the “20 to Watch” celebration events and is providing software
scholarships to the honorees.
rates, full-time virtual schools lagged
significantly behind traditional brickand-mortar schools.”
Overall, the AYP for virtual schools
was 22 percent lower than traditional
schools. The report also advises lawmakers to “slow or stop growth in the
number of virtual schools and the size
of their enrollment until the reasons
for their relatively poor performance
have been identified and addressed.”
Authors laid out recommendations
for state governments based on their
findings. Among them to “develop
guidelines and governance mechanisms to ensure that virtual schools
do not prioritize profit over student
performance” and to “develop new
accountability structures for virtual
schools, calculate the revenue needed
to sustain such structures and provide
adequate support for them.”
They also suggested improvements
to online teaching models, the quality of teachers, and the role research
should play in teacher evaluations and
student curriculums.
In Michigan, virtual schools are
lagging behind traditional counterparts. According to a recent article in
MLive, the most recent MEAP results
show virtual schools struggling. Two
of the schools operated by the forprofit company K12, Michigan Great
Lakes Virtual Charter Academy and
Michigan Virtual Charter Academy,
struggled to achieve student success. Michigan Virtual had half of its
students proficient in reading at all
grade levels while rates in other areas
and subjects were lower. Great Lakes
Virtual scored poorly in most subjects.
To view the full report, visit the
NEPC website.
Virtual Schools, continued from Page 1
graduation rates, virtual schools are
significantly below performance levels
for brick and mortar public schools,”
said Miron, who contributed to the
report’s section on performance data.
“The evidence is overwhelming when
you consider the magnitude in the difference in performance outcomes and
add to this the fact that these findings
remain consistent over time.”
The study also determined that
there were fewer opportunities for
students in virtual schools and a lack
of diversity nationwide, compared to
those learning in traditional schools.
“Compared with conventional public schools, full-time virtual schools
served relatively few black and
Hispanic students, impoverished students and special education students,”
the authors found. “In addition, on
the common metrics of AYP, state
performance rankings and graduation
4
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
MASB Helps to Support a Culture of Reading in Michigan
M
ASB is the first partner in the
Michigan Department of Education’s Culture of Reading program,
which is an initiative to promote early
childhood learning and development by
getting all Michigan children reading
proficiently by the end of third grade.
The program will put books into the
hands and homes of children in lowincome communities.
“The earlier a child is introduced to
reading, the better chance he/she has
of success in school and life,” said State
Superintendent Michael Flanagan. “Too
many kids don’t have their own books
at home to read when they want to.”
Through the Culture of Reading initiative, MDE has developed a vehicle
to not only get books to these children,
but to engage their teachers and parents in the process. MDE will be coor-
dinating donations to provide copies of
the Michigan Reads! books to children
in elementary classrooms/early childhood education settings based on their
teachers’ commitment to use the books
to promote scientifically based reading instruction and/or family engagement activities focused on literacy. A
grant program will be established for
elementary schools and early childhood
centers. The number of grants awarded
and children receiving free books each
year will be determined by the amount
of donations raised. Schools and early
childhood centers will be notified when
the grant application process is available.
“We’re not just going to be giving out
free books to schools,” noted Flanagan,
“we want the kids to take the books
home with them and learn to read better, while helping foster a lifetime love
of reading.”
Grant materials and guidelines will
be distributed to schools later this year,
inviting classroom teachers to submit
applications. Books will be distributed
to selected teachers/students in the fall.
Interested parties/organizations can
submit donations through the MDE
website, as well as find links to similar
initiatives operating within the state.
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www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
5
Achievement Isn’t Just for Kids!
C
ongratulations to the
hundreds of board members
across the state who earned awards
in our Certified Boardmember
Awards program in 2013.
Last year, more than 1,000 board
members participated in the CBA
program; 188 earned awards; 58
earned the Certified Boardmember
Award—the basic level all board
members are encouraged to achieve;
and five members earned the
President’s Award of Recognition—
MASB’s highest individual honor.
MASB also honors whole boards
for their achievement as a governance team, which is more difficult
as it requires the entire board to
maintain at least CBA certification.
For the third year running, Genesee
ISD had all members maintain
Certified Boardmember Award
Birmingham Public Schools, Lori Soifer
Bloomfield Hills Public Schools, Howard S. Baron
Bloomingdale Public Schools, Jamie Walle
Boyne Falls Public Schools, William Cousineau
Cassopolis Public Schools, John Bright
Cassopolis Public Schools, Susan Horstmann
Cedar Springs Public Schools, Matthew Shoffner
Clarkston Community Schools, Craig Hamilton
Covert Public Schools, Cheryl McCray
Crestwood School District, Lynne Senia
Dearborn Public Schools, Roxanne McDonald
DeWitt Public Schools, Sarah Hartman, CPA
Fennville Public Schools, Dana Rosema
Ferndale Public Schools, Raylon Leaks-May
Flint Community Schools, Roneeka Pleasant-Brown
Flushing Community Schools, Elisa M. Cantwil
Flushing Community Schools, Janice R. Winkiel
Freeland Community School District, Peter R. Wiltse
Gibraltar Schools, Lisa M. Darville
Grand Blanc Community Schools, Susan D. Kish
Harbor Beach Community Schools, Steve Schwab
Harper Creek Community Schools, Vikki Bauer
Inland Lakes Schools, Gina Burke
Kalkaska Public Schools, Julie A. Sattler
Kelloggsville Public Schools, Doug Anderson
Kentwood Public Schools, Sandy Theisen
Lake Orion Community Schools, Melissa Miller
Lakeview School District, Neal Vanderbilt
Livonia Public Schools, Randy Roulier
Madison School District, Mark Swinehart
Mesick Consolidated Schools, Jerry Coger
Mesick Consolidated Schools, Julie Yeomans
6
Level 5, earning them the Master
Diamond Board Award.
Kudos to each of this year’s award
winners. Learn more about the levels of achievement on the MASB
website.
Mesick Consolidated Schools, Eric Spencer
Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools, Amie Lovelady
New Haven Community Schools, Wanda Peyerk
New Haven Community Schools, Eric Weaver
Northview Public Schools, Renee Montgomery
Okemos Public Schools, Tonya Rodriguez
Owosso Public Schools, Cheryl Paez
Oxford Community Schools, Carol Mitchell
Pennfield Schools, Mike Bishop
Plainwell Community Schools, Chris VanDenBerg
Rochester Community Schools, Jane Pierobon
Rochester Community Schools, John P. Piskulich
Rochester Community Schools, Michael A. Zabat
Roseville Community Schools, Kevin A. Switanowski
Sault Ste. Marie Area Schools, Ken Dunton
St. Charles Community Schools, John Germain
St. Joseph ISD, Sally Boeschenstein
Tecumseh Public Schools, Debbie Johnson-Berges
Troy School District, Karl D. Schmidt
Warren Consolidated Schools, Elaine G. Martin
Wayne Westland Community Schools, Sally Madison
Western School District, Gale Easton
Western School District, Jason Herrington
Yale Public Schools, Veronica Monaco
Zeeland Public Schools, Todd Brennan
Zeeland Public Schools, Mark Snyder
Award of Merit
Berkley School District, Ronald J. Justice
Birmingham Public Schools, Lori Soifer
Bloomfield Hills Public Schools, Howard S. Baron
Breckenridge Community Schools, Alan Sanger
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Byron Area Schools, Amy Lawrence
Capac Community Schools, Dwayne Loper
Cassopolis Public Schools, John Bright
Cassopolis Public Schools, Susan Horstmann
Clawson Public Schools, Tony Urbanik
Covert Public Schools, Cheryl McCray
Crestwood School District, Kevin Sauve
Crestwood School District, Lynne Senia
Dearborn Public Schools, Roxanne McDonald
Fennville Public Schools, Dana Rosema
Ferndale Public Schools, Raylon Leaks-May
Flushing Community Schools, Elisa M. Cantwil
Freeland Community School District, Shari M. Bailey
Freeland Community School District, Peter R. Wiltse
Gibraltar Schools, Lisa M. Darville
Grand Blanc
Community Schools,
Susan D. Kish
Harper Creek
Community Schools,
Vikki Bauer
Huron Valley Schools,
Bonnie L. Brown
Inland Lakes Schools,
Gina Burke
Kentwood Public Schools, Sandy Theisen
Kingston Community Schools, Raymond Wolak
Lake Orion Community Schools, Melissa Miller
Lapeer Community Schools, Gary Edward Oyster
Lincoln Consolidated Schools, Yoline Williams
Livonia Public Schools, Julie Robinson
Madison School District, Mark Swinehart
New Haven Community Schools, Regina Patton
Northview Public Schools, Renee Montgomery
Owosso Public Schools, Cheryl Paez
Oxford Community Schools, Carol Mitchell
Pennfield Schools, Mike Bishop
Plainwell Community Schools, Chris VanDenBerg
Portage Public Schools, Joanne Willson
Reed City Area Public Schools, Scott Ridderman
Rochester Community Schools, Jane Pierobon
Romulus Community Schools, Sandra Crout
Roseville Community Schools, Kevin A. Switanowski
St. Charles Community Schools, John Germain
St. Charles Community Schools, Leon Charles Larsen
St. Joseph ISD, Sally Boeschenstein
Tecumseh Public Schools, Stanley Ames
Troy School District, Karl D. Schmidt
Warren Consolidated Schools, Elaine G. Martin
Western School District, Jason Herrington
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Yale Public Schools, Veronica Monaco
Award of Distinction
Addison Community Schools, Michael P. Murphy
Allendale Public Schools, Ron Brouwer
Allendale Public Schools, Jennifer Coffey
Battle Creek Public Schools, William Burton
Clinton Community Schools, Shirley Harris
Detroit Public Schools, Lamar Lemmons
Flint Community Schools, Vera J. Perry
Genesee School District, Fred Hinz
Grand Blanc Community Schools, James D. Avery
Greenville Public Schools, James H. Anderson
Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Stan Truskoski
L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, Kenneth N. Hoover
Lincoln Park Public
Schools, Kathy M. Carter
Livonia Public Schools,
Colleen Burton
Milan Area Schools, Rita
Vershum
Mt. Morris Consolidated
Schools, Warren Tracey
New Haven Community
Schools, Sue Simon
Northview Public Schools, John K. Belaski
Novi Community Schools, Dennis P. O’Connor
Okemos Public Schools, Amy Crites
Pennfield Schools, Dorothy Dilsaver
Rockford Public Schools, Laura L. Featherston
Romulus Community Schools, John Thiede
Saginaw City School District, Rudy Patterson
Saginaw City School District, Alexis S. Thomas
Saginaw ISD, Richard F. Burmeister
Southfield Public Schools, Betty C. Robinson
Southfield Public Schools, Yolanda R. Smith
Southfield Public Schools, Rance D. Williams
Tecumseh Public Schools, Kimberly Amstutz-Wild
Tecumseh Public Schools, Jimmie L. Rice
Three Rivers Community Schools, Peter F. Bennett
Van Buren Public Schools, Martha Toth
Van Dyke Public Schools, Jim Brinkey
Wayne Westland Community Schools, Thomas R. Buckalew
Western School District, John Sheets, D.D.S.
Westwood Community School District, Cheryl Bell
Master Boardmember Award
Center Line Public Schools, Henry L. Newnan
Chelsea School District, R. Stephen Olsen
Clare Gladwin RESD, Barbara Richards
7
Clare Public Schools, Carol Santini
Clarkston Community Schools, Elizabeth Egan
Clio Area Schools, Robert Gaffney
Flint Community Schools, Antoinette Lockett
Godwin Heights Public Schools, Kenneth Hornecker
Holton Public Schools, Amy Brookhouse
Houghton Lake Community Schools, Thomas Dean
Lake Fenton Community Schools, Sandra Taiariol Dailey
Lake Shore Public Schools, Shannon Harvey
Marquette Alger RESA, Judy Parlato
Mattawan Consolidated Schools, Alan Koenig
Milan Area Schools, Janice Kiger
Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools, Jim Rauschenberger Jr.
Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools, Pam Sprague
Olivet Community Schools, Patricia Sheets
Romulus Community Schools, Danielle Funderburg
Troy School District, Nancy L. Philippart
Wayne Westland Community Schools, Carol Middel, M.Ed.
Yale Public Schools, Amanda J. Zabor
Master Diamond Award
Allendale Public Schools, Sheryl Pineiro
Armada Area Schools, Cheryl Murray
Birch Run Area Schools and Saginaw ISD, Allan Pettyplace
East Detroit Public Schools, Jon S. Gruenberg
Fitzgerald Public Schools, Elizabeth Smith
Iosco RESA, Dawn M. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Jackson County ISD, David Salsbury
Kelloggsville Public Schools, Timothy J. Pomorski
Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Matt Rettig
Madison School District, Martin Kyle Ehinger
Marquette Alger RESA, Virginia Paulson
Negaunee Public Schools, Virginia Paulson
New Haven Community Schools, Gina Walker
Pine River Area Schools, Roland W. Schalow
Saginaw City School District, Ruth Ann Knapp
Swartz Creek Community Schools, Brian E. Sepanak
Wyandotte Public Schools, Christopher C. Calvin
Master Platinum Award
Bendle Public Schools, Janis D. Bugbee
Bloomfield Hills Public Schools, Cynthia E. Von Oeyen
Bridgeport Spaulding Community Schools, Marvin L. Morris
L’Anse Creuse Public Schools and Macomb ISD, Donald R.
Hubler
Lincoln Park Public Schools, Charles Kaminski
Saginaw City School District, Delena Spates-Allen
President’s Award of Recognition
Copper Country ISD and Houghton-Portage Township
8
Schools, Nels Christopherson
Harper Creek Community Schools, Allyn Miller
Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools, John Schafsnitz
Northview Public Schools, Tim Detwiler
Southgate Community Schools, Sue Murray
Advocacy Skills Specialty Award
Allegan Public Schools, Mary M. Kasprzyk
Allendale Public Schools, Sheryl Pineiro
Bendle Public Schools, Bard Scott
Crawford AuSable Schools, Wendy Kucharek
Dearborn Heights School District No. 7, Lori Fujita
Fenton Area Public Schools, Lynn D. Hopper
Fitzgerald Public Schools, Judy Furgal
Flint Community Schools, Antoinette Lockett
Garden City Public Schools, Darlene Jablonowski
Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Stan Truskoski
Mecosta Osceola ISD, Marie Wilkerson
Rochester Community Schools, Elizabeth Talbert
Romulus Community Schools, Robert W. McLachlan
Southfield Public Schools, Yolanda R. Smith
Tecumseh Public Schools, Kimberly Amstutz-Wild
Tri-County Area Schools, Jill Fennessy
Troy School District, Nancy L. Philippart
Westwood Community School District, Sandra L. Rich
Yale Public Schools, Pete Bullard
Data Specialty Award
Bendle Public Schools, Bard Scott
Cedar Springs Public Schools, Joseph R. Marckini
Center Line Public Schools, Karen A. Pietrzyk
Clio Area Schools, Robert Gaffney
Decatur Public Schools, George Fusko
Genesee ISD, Jerry G. Ragsdale, MPA
Kalkaska Public Schools, John S. Rogers
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Frank Hammond
Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Stan Truskoski
Lincoln Park Public Schools, Dawn M. Johnson
Lincoln Park Public Schools, Mary Corson
Mount Clemens Community School District, David McFadden
North Branch Area Schools, Rosann Clark
Otsego Public Schools, Donna Weeldreyer
Romulus Community Schools, Robert W. McLachlan
Southgate Community Schools, Sue Murray
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Peggy Casagrande
Board Award: Honor Board
Allendale Public Schools
Bendle Public Schools
Berkley School District
Berrien RESA
Carman Ainsworth Community Schools
Cassopolis Public Schools
Center Line Public Schools
Clarkston Community Schools
Fitzgerald Public Schools
Genesee ISD
Grand Blanc Community Schools
Iosco RESA
Kelloggsville Public Schools
Lake Fenton Community Schools
Lamphere Schools
Lawton Community Schools
Lincoln Park Public Schools
Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools
New Haven Community Schools
Rochester Community Schools
Saginaw City School District
Saginaw ISD
Southfield Public Schools
Troy School District
Van Buren ISD
Westwood Community School District
Board Award: Standard of Excellence
Allendale Public Schools
Bendle Public Schools
Berkley School District
Berrien RESA
Carman Ainsworth Community Schools
Center Line Public Schools
Fitzgerald Public Schools
Genesee ISD
Grand Blanc Community Schools
Iosco RESA
Lake Fenton Community Schools
Lamphere Schools
Lawton Community Schools
Lincoln Park Public Schools
Saginaw City School District
Saginaw ISD
Southfield Public Schools
Troy School District
Van Buren ISD
Westwood Community School District
Board Award: Distinguished Achievement
Allendale Public Schools
Genesee ISD
Saginaw City School District
Saginaw ISD
Van Buren ISD
Board Award: Master Board
Genesee ISD
Board Award: Master Diamond Board
Genesee ISD
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
9
Advocacy & Legislation: Standing Up for Public Education
T
he new MASB website, which
launched in January, has
been formatted to be easy for all
site visitors to navigate, as well as
view on mobile devices. The content
has been divided, into five main
areas—About MASB, Advocacy &
Legislation, Training & Events, Education Community and the Member
Center. In this issue, we are going to
take a look at the Advocacy & Legislation section.
You may already be involved in
efforts to change policies, programs
and perceptions, and MASB supports and encourages those efforts.
Such involvement is crucial for school
board members and other education
stakeholders, for when we do not
create effective channels of communication with legislators, the media,
community members and others
define which education issues become
priorities. The stakes are simply too
high for school board members not to
engage in advocacy efforts.
Information in this section provides
you with resources and tools to aid
your endeavors. The main page features a sample resolution for boards
to show support for one another,
A Practical Guide to Promoting
America’s Public Schools, tips for writing letters to the editor, and media
interview dos and don’ts.
The MASB Board of Directors
establishes Legislative Priorities for
each session year that guide the work
of the Government Relations staff.
Policy Papers on a variety of topics
can also be found here.
For the general public, Your Local
School Board offers answers to basic
questions on what the public should
expect from this elected body.
e-Vocate connects site visitors with
background information on current
legislation related to public education,
MASB’s position on each of these,
and ways to make your voice heard
through contacting your state and
federal legislators.
State Activities includes several
links to the state Legislature, Revised
School Code, Views From the Capitol
and more, while National Activities
offers similar information for the federal level.
One of the biggest advocacy
efforts MASB conducts on an
annual basis is School Board
Recognition Month Activities.
The month of January provides a
unique opportunity for communities across Michigan to acknowledge the continuing efforts of local
and ISD school board members in
providing leadership and guidance
to local school districts. This page
also includes a video message from
Executive Director Kathy Hayes.
Lastly, the Current Topics section helps you get connected and
informed about “hot” education issues
like Common Core State Standards,
Deficit Districts, the Michigan Merit
Curriculum, No Child Left Behind,
School Safety and MI School Data.
Articles in future issues of
Headlines and Between Headlines will
continue to walk through the new
navigation and features, but please
feel free to “dive in” at any time and
let us know what you think by sending us your feedback and questions to
[email protected].
Snow Days, continued from Page 1
to the end of a day replaces the lost lessons for 12 or more missed days. As
schools, administrators and teachers are
increasingly held accountable based on
student achievement, lost days of education not only affect the child, but have a
much broader impact.
At this time, there has been no indication that a hearing on the bill is pend-
10
ing, nor is one expected any time soon.
MASB would advise creating an alternative schedule and notifying parents as
soon as possible so that calendar adjustments can be made. We know many
districts have already done this, but it
is important that everyone move in this
direction. If something happens that
causes this bill to move, it will be much
easier to delete days later in the year,
than to notify parents in May that your
school year will have to be extended.
If you have any questions, feel free to
contact MASB Government Relations
team at [email protected] or
517.327.5900.
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Six Simple Steps to Standing Up 4 Public Schools: Part I
M
ASB members can easily get engaged with the National School
Board Association’s Stand Up 4 Public
Schools campaign through six simple
steps. We’ll address the first two here and
the remaining four steps in future issues
of Headlines.
Step 1: Get Informed
NSBA recently released a helpful document, “A School Board Vision for Public
Education,” to assist public education
advocates in creating key messages that
are consistent with the principles, practices and priorities of local public schools
across the nation.
Additionally, to communicate effectively about public education, tap into the
best available resources, including those
listed below:
• Interested in accurate, timely and
credible information about public
education? Need the lowdown on
what works from prekindergarten to
high school? Want the facts about
issues affecting your schools from
Common Core standards to school
schedules to teacher evaluation?
Then check out NSBA’s evidencebased Center for Public Education.
• Review the eight characteristics of
effective school boards also provided by the CPE.
• Encourage your community to vote
in school board elections as it is an
investment in the future of kids and
your community.
• Need credible information about
education hot topics at your fingertips? From Common Core State
Standards to pre-K to trends in
teacher evaluation and much more,
explore the “All Issues” drop-down
on the CPE
website. Also,
the American
School Board
Journal gives a
national perspective on
cutting-edge education trends and
issues (subscription-based).
• Education blogger Alexander Russo,
author of This Week in Education,
identifies the most notable education
stories from 2013 in The Atlantic.
• In addition to national, state and
local media, explore sites like
Teach100 that provide a user-friendly daily ranking of education blogs.
Step 2: Get Ready
Be sure to coordinate directly with
NSBA, continued on Page 14
Getting them
there safely
For over 50 years, Dean
Transportation has been a
proud partner to schools across
Michigan, safely transporting
nearly 20,000 students daily.
deanschoolbus.com
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
|
deantrailways.com
11
Education News
Waverly Middle School Club Builds Leaders
Kiara Watson, Krystal Albright and
Mackenna Sager easily mastered a tagging gun without spearing their fingers.
Along with four other members of
Waverly Middle School’s Builders Club,
the three seventh-graders were working at the Lansing City Rescue Mission’s
Upscale Thrift Store on March 5, tagging, pricing and steaming clothing
before it was put on the sales floor.
The Builders Club is a program of
the Kiwanis Club and is sponsored by
Kiwanis groups worldwide. Its intent is to
teach junior and middle school-age students leadership skills through service.
Started last December by Erik Hansen
of the Delta Kiwanis Club and teacher
Cheryl Frank, the Builders Club aims to
develop students’ leadership skills while
giving them a chance to serve their
school and community.
The Waverly club has been at the store
on the first Wednesday of the month
for the past two months and plans to
continue through May. Members also
vacuum, dust and do whatever else is
needed.
On one particularly wicked weather
day, they even subbed for the staff that
store director Shelly Rene had sent
home early.
“They’re an excellent group of kids,”
said Rene, who sees their involvement as
a win-win for both them and her store.
“Retail is a wonderful field to begin.”
Waverly Middle School social worker
Kristen Hood says the teachers and staff
have been working to provide more
leadership opportunities for more students and build a solid community at
school.
“The more engaged they are in their
school community, the more successful
they are in all areas of their lives,” she
12
said.
The Kiwanis Builders Club for middle
school and junior high students hasmore
than 45,000 participants worldwide.
Source: Lansing State Journal, March
12, 2014.
Rising Scholars Aims to Bridge Achievement
Gap by Building Friendships Between Grade
Levels
Carpenter Elementary kindergartener
Blake Edison squirmed in his seat as he
slowly scrawled the word “brother” on
the paper before him.
School wasn’t his favorite—he’d rather
be off playing.
But under the careful guidance of
Huron High School freshman Lydia Hill,
Edison finished his worksheet on the
picture book, “Baby Sister Says No,” that
the two had just finished reading.
“Am I cool or lame?” Hill asked
Edison.
“Lame,” Edison said as he cracked a
smile at Hill.
The friendship forged between the
two that day is one Rising Scholars is
hoping will make a difference for Edison
as he grows up.
Rising Scholars is a partnership
program between the University of
Michigan Center for Educational
Outreach and Ann Arbor Public
Schools.
The program, which consists of 270
students at Pioneer, Huron and Skyline
high schools, is intended to reach underserved but high-achieving students to
bridge the achievement gap and ready
students for college.
For the past three years, students
in the program have been visiting
Carpenter Elementary School to spend a
day in a kindergarten classroom.
Around the State
It’s a measure program Coordinator
Brandon Jackson says is meant to give
young students positive academic role
models at a young age—which is something they might not otherwise have in
their lives.
Helping the kindergarten students
practice their reading was rewarding to
Huron freshman Payton Carlock, as she
said she found that some of them didn’t
know how to read.
“It’s a great experience,” Carlock said.
“I think it’s really important to help
eliminate the achievement gap.”
Source: MLive, March 11, 2014.
Clare and Gladwin County Districts Participate
in Poverty Simulation
Teachers, support staff, administrators
and paraprofessionals participated in
a poverty simulation organized by faculty from Central Michigan University
as a part of the Clare-Gladwin RESD
Professional Development day last week.
The simulation was designed to sensitize participants to the realities that
low-income people face on a daily and
monthly basis. Participants assumed the
roles of different “families” facing poverty with varying circumstances.
The simulation was broken into four
15-minute weeks with five-minute weekends. Attendees had to work through
their month of poverty to overcome
certain objectives such as feeding their
family, paying their bills and maintaining
housing.
According to an attendee, “The poverty simulation was very eye opening for
me. In my scenario, I was given the role
of a single father who got fired, lost his
home, and whose son became ill because
of lack of food and was ultimately taken
Education News, continued on Page 13
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
MASB Datebook
Board Leadership Development
Education News, continued from Page 12
in by social services. The one-hour
experience left me stressed and wanting
to cry. It was crazy considering I knew
it was all pretend. I can’t imagine what
families in these situations go through. I
am completely humbled by this experience.”
Clare-Gladwin RESD will offer a
repeat poverty simulation to local educators in October 2014.
Source: Midland Daily News, March
9, 2014.
introduces them to terms such as “joint
venture,” “vendors” and “weasel.”
Well thought-out questions from the
story will be brought up to get students
thinking, including: Have you tried
working on a project with another person? Do you work better alone or by
yourself? Can friends work well together? The questions will be addressedat
the end of each week to create discussions for the students to partake in.
Source: The Voice, March 7, 2014.
Belle River Elementary Comes Together With
“One School, One Book”
Belle River Elementary in Maryville
is getting students to read with “One
School, One Book,” a fun competition
that brings students and staff together.
One School, One Book is a schoolwide challenge in observance of “March
is Reading Month.” Every student, from
kindergarten through fifth grade, as
well as every staff member, teacher
and administrator, will be reading
“Lemonade War” by Jacqueline Davies
at the same time over the next four
weeks.
Belle River will be competing against
Washington Elementary in Marysville
on which school can get more “readies”
posted on each school’s Facebook page.
A “readie” is a fun take on the popular
“selfie,” but this time, photos will be of
students reading together.
“We will all share the book together,”
said Belle River Principal Patti Andrea.
“It is our hope that everyone reads it
out loud at home, as a family, during
the month of March. All readers benefit
from being read to, even when they are
not able to read by themselves.”
“Lemonade War” is about two siblings
who operate rival lemonade stands
during the summer. One operates with
a friendly and personal approach, the
other by the numbers. The book teaches students basics about business and
Wood Creek Elementary Takes Initiative to
Bring Attention to Autism During “Light it Up
Blue”
“Light it Up Blue” is a movement
founded by Autism Speaks, an organization that promotes autism awareness
around the globe. This April, during
Autism Awareness Month, Wood Creek
Elementary in Farmington Hills plans to
light the whole school blue.
“I will have blue light bulbs in every
classroom,” said Jessica Wood, a special
education teacher at the school. “Wood
Creek’s goal is to promote Autism
Awareness in our school, district and
community during the month of April
by Light it Up Blue.”
On April 2, the whole world will
shine blue, including the Eifel Tower
and Empire State Building. Wood
Creek wants more than a day of awareness and is asking all Farmington area
residents to keep blue lights burning
throughout April.
Wood Creek’s autism awareness promotion kicked off on March 14, with
former Michigan State University basketball player Anthony Ianni discussing his life with autism and the need
for understanding of students on the
autism spectrum. Ianni’s presentation
was followed by a fundraiser for the
Autism Alliance of Michigan.
Source: Observer & Eccentric, March
7, 2014.
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
March 19, 2014
•CBA 103 @ Allegan AESA
March 20 – 21, 2014
•Blue Stockings: Women Leaders
Learning With and From Each Other
March 22, 2014
•CBA 101 @ Van Buren ISD
March 26, 2014
•CBA 360 @ Eaton RESA
March 27, 2014
•CBA 342 @ Clare Gladwin RESD
View Complete Calendar
Headlines
A News Report for Michigan Education Leaders
A publication of the
Michigan Association of School Boards
Mission Statement
To provide quality educational leadership
services for all Michigan boards of education,
and to advocate for student achievement and
public education.
2013-2014 MASB Board Officers
President: Ruth Coppens
President-Elect: Donald Hubler
Vice President: Darryle Buchanan
Past President: Steve Zinger
Executive Director
Kathy Hayes
Director of
Communications,
PR and Marketing
John Tramontana
Opinions and sponsorships
expressed in Headlines don’t necessarily reflect the position of MASB.
Contact MASB
800.968.4627 • www.masb.org
517.327.5900 • [email protected]
13
Executive Search Services
Superintendent Vacancies
District:
Saginaw ISD
District:
Port Huron Area School District
District:
Suttons Bay Public Schools
Position Closing Date:
March 27, 2014
Position Closing Date:
April 7, 2014
Position Closing Date:
April 15, 2014
District:
Otsego Public Schools
District:
Whittemore-Prescott Area
Schools
District:
Romulus Community Schools
Position Closing Date:
April 4, 2014
Position Closing Date:
April 7, 2014
Position Closing Date:
April 16, 2014
Contact MASB Executive Search Services for information about applying
for any of the positions above or assistance in retaining a superintendent at
[email protected] or 517.327.5923.
NSBA, continued from Page 11
your district’s public affairs/communications offices to identify guidelines around
spokespeople and ensure that your communications adhere to the policy, practices and priorities of your district.
For the national campaign to thrive,
it is important to create an “echo effect.”
Join local school boards in helping to tell
the important story of public education
by spreading the word—share the cam-
paign site and the national campaign itself
with key influencers in your local community. Think of the campaign as a dooropener or conversation starter. When you
set out to reinforce, strengthen or shape
an opinion, it requires studying your local
market to identify key messages that are
receiving coverage or engaging public
interest in your area.
One size NEVER fits all if your goal
is to communicate effectively! To reach
your target(s), make use of the very same
source(s) they rely on for news and information. Successful communication starts
by clearly identifying the people or groups
you need to reach, then delivering that
content via the channels the people or
groups you seek to reach rely on, whether
traditional, social or digital format.
and teacher and administrator evaluations. Rumors about the EAA bill
coming up on the House Floor that
day were shared with the attendees.
The Government Relations teams
urged everyone to stop by House
Session in the afternoon to either
meet with their legislator or observe
from the gallery.
Following the program’s conclusion,
many attendees did just that. It was
an impressive display of our army of
advocates and the power that we can
all have when we’re engaged.
With all of the board members and
superintendents talking to their legislators about the concerns with the
EAA and House Bill 4369, we helped
stop a vote on the bill once again. But
this fight is not over yet. We expect it
to continue next week, so please keep
making your voice heard with your
elected officials and urge your friends
and family to do the same. As you can
see, each voice can make a difference!
Check out photos from the conference on MASB’s Facebook page.
Legislative, continued from Page 3
deputy superintendent of public
instruction from the Department of
Education talked about proposals to
help schools address financial issues
earlier, and ways the state can try and
help schools to keep them from falling
off the fiscal cliff.
Finally, the Government Relations
teams from MASA and MASB gave
a quick legislative update, including
talking points for everyone to use
when meeting with their legislators.
They spoke about the Classrooms
and Kids budget, EAA expansion,
14
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
Worth Repeating
A Plan to Fully Fund Michigan’s Classrooms
Editorial From the March 13, 2014 The Detroit News. Written by Robert D. Livernois and Daniel S. Behm.
I
n early February, Gov. Rick Snyder proposed a modest per-pupil
increase for K-12 schools for 20142015. This was welcome recognition
that schools need greater investment
to help our children be prepared to
compete for 21st century jobs.
But we believe we can go a step further for our children.
Frontline educators, teachers, staff
and parents were forced to make difficult decisions in recent years due to
declining enrollment and state funding. Some of those decisions led to
crowded classrooms, the elimination
of vital programs and reductions in
critical services and basic supplies.
Worse yet, dozens of districts across
the state face deficits. Some are on
the brink of financial collapse. And
because our children will ultimately
pay the price for failing to better
address school funding, we need to
provide local districts the flexibility to
meet their needs.
Our needs vary, but they are all
centered on providing an exceptional
educational experience for every student. That experience is different for
Warren Consolidated Schools and
Forest Hills Public Schools.
Our children and communities
deserve better, and Michigan’s education community believes the recently
announced “Classrooms and Kids”
budget proposal is a much needed
solution.
Late last month, a diverse group of
public education leaders and advocates proposed an education budget
that makes our children the top priority by redirecting existing resources
to where they are needed most — the
classroom. Superintendents, principals, school boards, teachers, parents
and others across Michigan are all
uniting around our “Classrooms and
Kids” budget proposal and are calling on the Legislature to support this
common-sense plan.
Very simply, our plan would remove
several burdensome special pots of
money and instead reallocate those
same dollars directly into per-pupil
grants for every student across the
state. Many times, these special pots
of money simply end up serving as a
mechanism that unintentionally picks
winners and losers among kids, rather
than helping them all.
The result is that the “Classrooms
and Kids” plan would provide increases of between $250-$291 per pupil,
this builds upon the governor’s proposed increase of $83-$111.
“Classrooms and Kids” is a common-sense plan that finds important
savings and resources without raising
taxes and provides local school officials more flexibility to best address
priorities of their local schools.
All schools — and kids — are winners under the “Classrooms and Kids”
plan, which is why legislators from
both parties have publicly pledged
their support.
Gov. Snyder’s proposal is a step in
the right direction. It helped districts
manage rising employee benefit costs.
We are asking to go a step further and
provide districts the cost-of-living
increases they’ve been denied for several years to cover other costs outside
their control and begin to restore programming for our children.
If approved, the “Classrooms and
Kids” proposal sends a clear signal
that Michigan and our state policy
makers are committed to fully funding kids’ classrooms so children can
learn, teachers can teach and schools
can succeed.
Robert D. Livernois is superintendent of Warren Consolidated Schools
and president of the Tri-County
Alliance for Public Education.
Daniel S. Behm is superintendent
of Forest Hills Public Schools and
chair of the Legislative Committee for
the Michigan Association of School
Administrators.
Worth Repeating doesn’t necessarily reflect the views or positions of MASB. It’s intended to spark dialogue and inform
readers about what’s being said about public education around the state and nation.
www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • March 18, 2014
15