Democrats for Education Reform Michigan Endorses Candidates for State Representative

 

Five running for State Representative Make the Grade 

Michigan’s only Democratic education reform political action committee has announced endorsements in the August 7, 2012 primary election, focusing on five Democrats who strongly support education reform efforts.

At the head of the class is Maureen Stapleton who is seeking a second term in the newly configured 6^th District (Detroit). Maureen has shown that she understands what must be done to address one of the most critical issues facing her constituency: making sure we do a better job of educating our children, our future. And, she has shown that she has the courage to place the interests of children and her constituency above other political interests.

John Olumba is seeking a second term in the newly configured 3^rd District (Detroit,Hamtramck). Olumba is an outspoken advocate for his district and, as an educator, he understands what needs to get done to close the ever-widening educational achievement gap between students in his district and their suburban peers.

He has demonstrated his “out of the box” approach to education by introducing legislation that allows for the creation of a residential academy that will serve students eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program. We like his unflinching support of quality educational options for parents and caregivers without regard to who provides them.

In the 8^th District (Detroit), DFER Michigan supports a fresh, new energetic voice for change: Sherry Gay-Dagnogo. An education advocate and community organizer, Gay-Dagnogo has worked very closely with congressional, state and city leadership to foster the move of transforming education in the City of Detroit. Sherry has worked hard to understand educational issues and how they impact the community. She has worked hard to connect with the people in her district, to be educated and to educate the community regarding solutions to chronic problems in our educational system. We are impressed by her broad understanding of the issues and the extent to which she goes to fully understand the problems and potential solutions.

Carol Banksis making her second run for the 4^th District (Detroit) in a crowded field that includes newcomer Adam Hollier. While we like Adam’s fresh approach to education issues influenced by his work as a staff member for Senators Buzz Thomas and Bert Johnson, we believe Carol Banks is a seasoned political veteran who can “hit the ground running” and provide needed leadership on education issues within the Detroit Caucus.

Finally, we like Ted O’Dell in the 68^th District (Lansing). Ted’s background in labor relations, his experience as a legislative aide in the senate and the house, and his experience as an elected official has prepared him to effectively represent the 68^th District. In addition, O’Dell has served as Treasurer for DFER Michigan since its inception, so he understands and supports our issues.

These legislative candidates are all in contested primary elections, and each of them has proven themselves to be focused on closing the achievement gap and helping all kids learn, regardless of which school they are in. They have earned our support and deserve to be elected.

As part of its political work, DFER Michigan endorses and provides financial support to candidates who subscribe to the organization’s mission and objectives for systemic education reform. We need your support to continue our work.

Please send a contribution to Michigan Democrats for Education Reform – PAC, P.O. Box 4147, Southfield, MI 48037. (We cannot accept corporate contributions) If you prefer to contribute directly to one or more of these candidates, please indicate on your check comment line: MDFER Endorsed.

By Lori Higgins

(From Detroit Free Press, May 4th, 2012)

Michigan has to jump through a few more hoops if it wants to get out from under some of the strict rules of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

That law, now widely panned by many as being too unrealistic because it requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014, penalizes schools that don’t meet the mark.

And greater numbers of schools are falling short of the goals, many because they aren’t showing enough improvement on state exams. That’s why the U.S. Department of Education has told states they can apply for waivers from the rules.

Michigan applied in February, with a plan that would allow the state to better intervene in the schools that need the most help and make schools more accountable for student performance. The state’s plan also would allow the state to set lower proficiency goals for schools.

But like most states that applied for the waiver, Michigan got a letter back from the feds outlining a number of changes that are needed in order for Michigan to get approval.

The feds said they were mostly pleased with the state’s application, telling State Superintendent Mike Flanagan in a letter last month that, “You and your team deserve great credit for your efforts thus far.”

The feds detailed four pages of changes and clarifications that are needed, but three were highlighted as among the most significant. Among them, the feds are concerned that too little weight is given to graduation rates. Michigan’s plan would have it count 10% toward a school’s accountability rating.

They’re also concerned that there is no official plan to pilot new systems for evaluating teachers and principals. That concern was raised before the Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness, which was formed last year to come up with the new evaluation system, recommended a pilot program. That recommendation came last week.

(From The Grand Rapids Press, December 10th, 2011)

By Harrison Blackmond and Amber Arellano

As the Michigan Legislature prepares to vote on sweeping education legislation that will remake public education in Michigan — especially in its poor neighborhoods — we call on our state leaders to make one central question their guiding light in their vote: What is best for our students, especially our disadvantaged students?

That question is at the heart of our organizations. It also should be the driving question in policymakers’ decision-making on whether to support lifting Michigan’s charter school cap without the addition of thoughtful language that will ensure any expansion of schools would be an expansion of quality charter schools.

Our organizations are agnostic about school governance. Indeed, we strongly support the expansion of high-quality school choices for Michigan students, especially African-American, Latino and poor children. Too many of them are tragically underserved by both charter schools and traditional public schools.

In fact, research shows overall, Michigan’s charter school and traditional public school achievement mirror one another: some schools are terrific; many more are mediocre to bad; and some are abysmal. After 17 years of state policy that has given little consideration to quality, it’s clear charter school expansion alone will not improve our state’s education system — or close our achievement gap. We need quality charter expansion.

Some charter school advocates say this legislation is a civil rights issue. We agree. As a state, Michigan has failed consistently to provide high-performing schools to our poor students and children of color. That’s our fault, the adults of Michigan, not the fault of students. Other states demonstrate that low-income children can and do perform at dramatically higher levels when adults educate them at dramatically higher levels.

By Harrison Blackmond, State Director, Michigan Democrats for Education Reform

Aside from his reference to changes in the emergency financial manager’s act, there was precious little said about education in Governor Rick Snyder’s first and highly anticipated state of the state speech last Wednesday night. There was no grand vision about how he would reform and reinvent Michigan’s struggling k-12 education system. There is no indication that K-12 education reform leadership will come from the governor’s office.

Therefore, it seems it will be left to the legislature – Senator Phil Pavlov and Representative Paul Scott – to provide that leadership. Among Democrats, Representative Tim Melton has made it clear he will continue to remind his colleagues that it is Democratic constituencies who suffer most from the current system and he will continue to be an advocate for reform. Otherwise it will be left to Democrats on the education committees in the House and Senate, most of them new, to send the message loud and clear that Democrats intend to be major players. Senators Coleman A. Young, II and Hoon-Yung Hopgood in the Senate and Representatives Thomas F. Stallworth, III, Lisa L. Howze, Rudy Hobbs, George Darany, Doug Geiss and David Rutledge all represent urban areas where families and children are suffering.

Whatever the education reform solutions are, these legislators are in unique positions to impact the lives of thousands of children who are at risk of suffering the fate of thousands of children who have come before them. Today’s urban schools are reminders of the years of neglect and lack of meaningful reform that threaten the future of public education in all our cities and some rural areas as well.

We must find ways to hold accountable those to whom we pay billions to provide education services. If they cannot do the job, they should not receive or accept the money. We must find ways to quickly – but fairly- remove ineffective teachers and administrators. We must find ways to reward those who are doing a good job and withhold pay increases -including “step” increases – from those who are not. We must hold those who are supposed to prepare teachers accountable for the quality, or lack thereof, of new teachers graduating from those institutions. We must hold those who manage school districts, including school boards, accountable to operate them more efficiently and cost effectively. Finally, we must provide stable financing for K-12 education in return for enhanced and tough accountability measures.

These and other challenges must be addressed sooner than later. It is our hope that Governor Snyder provides the education reform leadership from the executive office that has been lacking since his Republican predecessor, John Engler, left office. If he does not, it will be left to Representative Scott and Senator Pavlov and I hope most, if not all, of the Democrats on the Senate and House Education Committees to provide that leadership.