Mich. Ed. Roundup – Feb 27

Feb 27, 2018 by edtrustmidwest

Waking Up

As a part of on our ongoing celebration of Black History Month, Michigan parent Crystal Humphries contributed her thoughts on the importance of including parent’s, student’s and teacher’s voices in policies that impact schools. The excerpt below is from her full blog post.

The day that I ended my career as a teacher, I woke up as a parent.

I was in a Detroit school district that paid great money, but the quality of education was extremely poor. The higher-ups were making 6 figures, but the copying machine didn’t work most times and, in my classroom, the only technology available was my work laptop and a projector that a coworker purchased herself.

As a teacher and a parent, I am fed up with the quality of our schools and the lack of say that parents, students, and teachers have in the policies that impact our schools.

I know if our schools are going to improve parents, students, and teachers, those most impacted by the problem, will have to lead the way. That’s why I won’t stop fighting for our kids in Detroit and across Michigan.

Click here for the full blog post.

Capital Update

The House School Aid and Education Committee will meet today at 10:30am in Room 352 of the State Capital Building. The agenda will include presentations on the following:

Shared-Time Instruction for Nonpublic Pupils
Cyber Public School Academies

The Senate K-12, School Aid, Education Committee will meet tomorrow, February 28 at 8:30am in the Harry T. Gast Appropriations Room on the 3^rd floor of the Capital Building. The agenda will include presentations on the following:

Shared Time and Nonpublic School Mandates
Cyber Schools
10 Cents a Meal Program

Additionally, there will be presentations given by Microsoft Imagine Academy and Michigan Virtual University.

The House School Aid and Education Committee and the Senate K-12, School Aid, Education Committee will host a joint meeting on Thursday, March 1 at 8am in Room 521 of the House Office Building. The agenda will include the Quarterly Report on Deficit Districts with testimony from the Department of Treasury and the Department of Education.

The House Education Reform Committee will meet on Thursday, March 1 at 9am in Room 521 of the House Office Building. The agenda will include a discussion of the House Bill 5526 (Kelly – R) which establishes a letter grade ranking system for public schools and HBs 5598 – HB 5605 which establish certain expectations of teacher preparation institutions and programs.

Noteworthy News

There’s one kindergarten teacher, 38 students in this Detroit class – Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press
Our editorial: Money just on part of the school equation – The Detroit News
After Amazon, Michigan needs more students educated beyond high school – Brandy Johnson, Bridge
Waking Up – Crystal Humphries, The Education Trust-Midwest

Event Spotlight

Join the Education Trust-Midwest on Thursday, March 22, 2018 in Detroit or Friday, March 23, 2018 in Grand Rapids for a Solutions Summit. At each event, Ed Trust-Midwest’s executive director, Amber Arellano, will join other notable education experts in a discussion on what’s being done to address Michigan’s education crisis. Click here for more information and to reserve your seat.