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House rams through bills to dissolve school districts without transferring employees

Posted on 06/14/13 at 12:10pm

House Education Committee Chairwoman Lisa Lyons, R-Alto, referred to school employees as “hogs” in a floor speech late Thursday night.

After the chair of the House Education Committee referred to school employees as “hogs,” Republicans in the state House rammed through legislation late Thursday night that would dissolve the Buena Vista and Inkster school districts and leave employees in those dissolved districts without the right to a job in the receiving districts.
Under House Bill 4813 and House Bill 4815, the state superintendent and state treasurer could decide to dissolve a troubled school district if the district fails to submit a deficit reduction plan or is financially incapable of implementing such a plan; lacks the funds necessary to run a K-12 program for a year of required instructional hours; and has 2,500 students or fewer and lost at least 10 percent of its students over the course of a year.
The legislation is crafted so that only Buena Vista and Inkster qualify for dissolution. Initially, it would have applied to any school district in the state, but MEA successfully fought to have it narrowed.
A dissolved district’s students and property would be transferred to one or more nearby districts.
School employees in the dissolved districts would not have rights to jobs in the receiving district — even though their district dissolved through no fault of their own. The legislation initially protected school employees in the dissolved districts by providing them with the right of first refusal for jobs in the receiving district, but an amendment by state Rep. Ray Franz, R-Onekama, stripped away all employee protections.
Franz’s amendment was fully supported by House Education Committee Chairwoman Lisa Lyons, R-Alto. In response to school employees’ concerns, Lyons said from the House floor: “Pigs get fat — hogs get slaughtered.”

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Lawmakers demand Snyder put brakes on EAA expansion

Posted on 06/05/13 at 9:34pm

State lawmakers are calling on Gov. Rick Snyder to step away from his plan to expand the Education Achievement Authority, following a series of startling revelations about the corporate-backed school district.

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Troy science teacher publishes report on effectiveness of various studying techniques

Posted on 06/11/13 at 5:53pm

Students have different techniques when it comes to studying for tests, and some are more effective than others.

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Failing charter schools still allowed to expand

Posted on 06/04/13 at 3:10pm

Thirty-two new charter schools are set to open in Michigan this fall, and a new study shows that chronically low-performing charter operators are being allowed to expand their operations.

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K-12 rally at Capitol scheduled for June 19

Posted on 06/05/13 at 9:37pm

The Save Michigan’s Public Schools network will hold a rally at the state Capitol in Lansing on June 19 to raise public awareness of the threats facing public education. MEA members are encouraged to attend.

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MEA membership means better contracts together

Posted on 05/21/13 at 3:26pm

With the passage of Michigan’s Public Employment Relations Act in 1965, teachers finally went from begging to bargaining. Thanks to PERA, all public school employees have the right to negotiate for fair wages, quality health care benefits and decent working conditions.

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Southeast Michigan educators collaborate on parent summit

Posted on 05/10/13 at 4:16pm

The debate surrounding reforms to the education system has prompted several MEA locals in Southeast Michigan to put together a parent education summit in Novi on Monday, May 13.