Would you like to know a plausible explanation as to why Michigan was dropped form its "needs intervention" list for special education?
Have you ever tried to get an IEP in a charter school?
Feel free to share your horror stories on accessing special education in public schools of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, Flint, and any one of those communities up in the central and nothern parts of Michigan, too.
I wonder what they do with all the old identities of children after they are adopted out from foster care?
Always remember, if you do not report it, it does not get tallied, just like they do with votes.
Last year, Michigan was the only state in the nation that failed to meet federal special education requirements and required intervention.
Michigan no longer needs "intervention" to meet federal special education requirements but still needs "assistance," according to state education officials.
The Michigan Department of Education said on Thursday the state's performance on key special education factors improved over last year, which prompted the U.S. Department of Education to lift the state from its “needs intervention” determination to “needs assistance."
Michigan is rated for its annual performance on meeting a section of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The types of data used to make a determination include the participation of children with disabilities on regular statewide assessments and the percentage of children with disabilities who graduated with a regular high school diploma and who dropped out.
Michigan’s score increased from 59.17% to 65.28% from 2018 to 2019, an increase of 6.1%, according to the 2019 report.
The state boosted its numbers for the percentage of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students with disabilities participating in statewide reading assessments. This year, the numbers were 83% and 81% respectively, compared to 80% and 79% last year.
It also increased the number of students with disabilities in the same grades taking regular statewide math assessments, from 81% and 79% in 2018 to 84% and 81% in 2019.
The state saw a decrease in the percentage of students with disabilities who drop out of school — from 29% to 28% — but the graduation rate remained the same both years at 63%.
Deputy state superintendent Scott Koenigsknecht said this is the highest score Michigan has received since 2014.
“We are pleased with the trajectory of the growth and will continue to work to improve outcomes for every Michigan student," Koenigsknecht said. "There still is much work to do around the areas of graduation rate, dropout rate, research-based best practices, and inclusion/”
Federal officials use both compliance and results data for a “letter of determination” on whether a state "meets requirements," "needs assistance" or "needs intervention."
Koenigsknecht said work is being done in the school districts across the state and at the state education department to improve compliance.
A steering committee and four workgroups have been working since December to generate recommendations that would lead to continued improvements for graduation rates, dropout rates, M-STEP participation, and NAEP results and participation, Koenigsknecht said.
Marcie Lipsitt, a Michigan-based special education advocate and civil rights activist, said the change in determination is nothing to celebrate because special education conditions continue to erode in Michigan due to a lack of transparency at the state education department and insufficient funding for special education services.
"Conditions have worsened this year," Lipsitt said. "There is nothing to celebrate here. Outcomes for children with disabilities are not improving."
Michigan Court of Appeals approves the first Type III transfer of public funding to private corporations.
The Type III transfer started in 1965 for the purposes of establishing new departments, commissions & boards, and, for dissolution of departments, commissions & boards.
Privatization of infrastructure came into fashion and launched the first, of many, complex financial fraud schemes to line to pockets and campaigns of politicians through child welfare because no one cares about children.
I would not fault the Appeals Court judges who voted in support of privatization, for the simple fact that they do not know anything about the subject matter of child welfare.
As for the religious interference, there is not much anyone is going to do to enforce the ruling or even for anyone to blow the whistle because are looking at the first building blocks of more stealin' in the name of the tax exempt god.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that no one can look at child educational records in foster care and adoption because of privacy laws.
Lansing — Michigan lawmakers can provide public funding to private schools to cover the “actual costs” of mandates that do not directly support student education, a divided Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday in a closely watched case.
In a 2-1 decision, judges William Murphy and Anica Letica ruled state funding to reimburse private schools for complying with health and safety laws is not inherently unconstitutional despite a ban on public aid for private education.
The funding must be “incidental” to teaching and providing educational services, cannot support a “primary” function critical to the school's existence and must not involve or result in “excessive religious entanglement,” they said in devising a new three-part test.
Any state law concerning student health, safety or welfare is “almost by definition” incidental to teaching, the judges said.
Public school advocates sued the state in 2017 after the Republican-led Legislature approved a budget with $2.5 million to reimburse private schools for fire drills, inspections and other state requirements. Plaintiffs, who have argued the funding is a "slippery slope," are considering a possible appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Gleicher on Tuesday accused her colleagues of “hijacking” the concept of incidental aid to create a new exception to the “plain language’ in the state Constitution that prohibits direct or indirect aid to non-public schools.
“The public money directly and indirectly assists nonpublic schools in keeping their doors open and meeting their payroll,” Gleicher wrote in a spirited dissent. “It is unconstitutional for that simple reason.”
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled on similar grounds in April when she found the budget appropriations were unconstitutional. The legal battle has prevented the state from providing the funding to non-public schools, but lawmakers approved another $2.5 million for fiscal year 2018 and $250,000 for 2019.
Murphy and Letica said Stephens' blanket ruling was an overreach. While some of the mandates may not pass their test, the Court of Appeals judges said funding for compliance with laws regarding criminal background checks, instrument disposal and epinephrine auto injectors is constitutionally permissible.
Criminal background checks for teachers are required by state law and conducted “for the purpose of ensuring and advancing the safety and welfare of its students, weeding out prospective teachers and other school personnel who might pose a risk of harm to students,” they wrote.
A background check is “merely incidental to teaching and providing educational services to private school students. It does not constitute a primary function or element necessary for a nonpublic school’s existence, operation, and survival, and it does not involve or result in excessive religious entanglement.”
The panel sent the case back down to the Court of Claims to consider the constitutionality of each mandate individually. Should the court conclude a specific cost or action is unconstitutional, it may only strike or preclude that reimbursement without invalidating the entire statute, the majority ruled.
Plaintiffs are considering their next steps in the legal battle after the appeals court panel "gave its blessing" to diverting public funding away from public schools, said Daniel Korobkin, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.
"This is a law that the Legislature intentionally passed to direct millions of dollars into the bank accounts of private schools," Korobkin said.
But state Rep. Tim Kelly, a Saginaw Township Republican who chairs the K-12 budget subcommittee and pushed to include the funding in recent budgets, said he was "thrilled" by Tuesday's ruling but expects opponents will appeal.
"There's some sanity that's crept into the court here," he said. "Even though this fight isn't over, I think it's clearly headed in the right direction."
Reimbursing private schools for state mandates is "the right thing to do," Kelly argued.
"You're not wrapped up in religiosity or whatever," he said. "This is clearly not trying to influence kids other than just trying to pay the costs."
The Michigan Constitution prohibits the state from appropriating public monies or property to "directly or indirectly to aid or maintain any private, denominational or other nonpublic, pre-elementary, elementary, or secondary school."Courts have interpreted the amendment to bar state support for general educational programs unless the main effect is to further a “substantial” governmental purpose.
Tuesday's ruling "flies in the face of our state Constitution," said Chris Wigent of the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators. “This is a clear attack on public education by special interests that want to funnel taxpayers’ money away from public school classrooms."
The three-judge appeals court panel that upheld the Republican appropriation included two Democratic appointees. Letica was picked for the court by GOP Gov. Rick Snyder in June. Murphy was appointed by former Gov. Jim Blanchard and Gleicher was picked by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, both Democrats.
Michigan voters approved a general ban on public funding for private education in 1970. The so-called Blaine Amendment to the Michigan Constitution allows the state to provide student transportation to any school but holds that public funding cannot be used "to support the attendance of any student or the employment of any person at any such nonpublic school."
In 2000, state voters defeated by 69-31 percent a ballot proposal to let parents in some struggling school districts use up to $3,100 in public money to pay for their child’s tuition at a private or religious school. The effort was led by Grand Rapids area school choice advocate Betsy DeVos, who became President Donald Trump’s education secretary in 2017.
Voters overwhelmingly defeated a similar voucher proposal in 1978.
"Guns improve schools, not heat, text books or computers."
Even though Michigan public schools, which are slowly being privatized to the charter schools system, has proven to fail the children, that has not stopped Betsy DeVos in profiting from her position as U.S. Secretary of Education.
Ask teachers what schools need and you might hear things like adequate supplies, up-to-date technology, as well as enough guidance counselors and nurses. But in Washington, this is what Betsy DeVos is reportedly considering giving states: The ability to buy guns for schools.
The New York Times is reporting that DeVos, the controversial U.S. Secretary of Education who hails from Michigan, is weighing using a federal grant program that is aimed at improving academic achievement to allow such a use.
The money would flow through the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program, which the Times reported is a $1 billion program. Michigan in 2017 received $12.3 million in grant money.
The grant has specific criteria for how the money should be used, none of it which refers to guns or school safety:
Provide all students with access to a well-rounded education
Improve school conditions for student learning
Improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy for all students.
The Times story says the gun purchases could fall under the "improve school conditions" category.
It wouldn't be the first time DeVos has courted controversy over the issue of guns in schools. During her confirmation hearing in 2017, she was pushed by a Democratic senator to address whether guns belong in schools. DeVos said at the time that it's an issue "best left to locals and states to decide."
But then, she added, in a school in a place like rural Idaho, educators might need a "gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies."
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump was roundly criticized by many in the education community when he suggested — after the Parkland, Fla. school shooting that left 17 students and adults dead — that schools should arm teachers.
Teachers pushed back on Twitter, under an #ArmMeWith hashtag that highlightedthings they said are far more important than guns – such as lower class sizes and better resources for needy students.
Below, is the Preamble to the City of Detroit Charter which is to be put before the people to vote, November 8, 2011.
Below, is what I consider one of my greatest achievement: introducing language to include our children in the Charter. Unfortunately, there were two skanks who voted against including the children, but I will wait for the appropriate time to call them out.
PREAMBLE
We, the people of Detroit, do ordain and establish this Charter for the governance of our City, as it addresses the needs of all citizens and affirms our commitment to the development and welfare of our youth, our most precious treasure; instituting programs, services and activities addressing the needs of our community; fostering an environment and government structure whereby sound public policy objectives and decisions reflect citizen participation and collective desires; pledging that all our officials, elected and appointed,will be held accountable to fulfill the intent of this Charter and hold sacred the public trust; acknowledging our blessings from God, we pray our efforts will be accepted
Detroit City Charter Commissioner to Focus on the Future of Youth
API/UPI--DETROIT, MICHIGAN (December 13, 2010) – Detroit City Charter Commissioner Reggie “Reg” Davis will be speaking at Denby High School, 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 14, 2010 to launch his youth initiative for Detroit children and youth.
Commissioner Davis has formed the Detroit Charter Commission Youth Caucus which include prominent Detroit business leaders Mildren Madison and Elon-Eloni Wilks, Ph.D., as well as local teachers, attorneys, economists and High School Student Government Officers.
Recommendations to formally recognize children and youth as Detroit's most precious treasures in the new Detroit Charter will be the focus of Commissioner Davis' youth initiative.
The Commissioner says that children should be allowed to have a voice in the political process. He goes on to say, “Detroit and the nation's economic recovery must include investments in our children because they will be the workforce and leaders of tomorrow. Listen to the children.”
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