Under an intense sun, 10,000 friends and I marched on the Michigan State Capitol to demand increased funding for public education. Here is a little video for your enjoyment.
http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/1614037.html
We listened as Governor Jennifer Granholm chided the Republicans for not wanting to close tax loopholes that could save the state tens of millions of dollars.. We listened as Democratic legislatures talked about Senate Bill 246 and House Bill 4582 which would guarantee that school funding would at least receive inflationary increases.
http://www.freep.com/news/education/rally20e_20050620.htm
What is really galling to me, however, is the disparity in funding between districts. I teach in a poor, urban district. At least 60 percent of my students do not speak English at home and please do not get me started on administration. If you want to find out more about my district, click here
http://www.hamtramck.k12.mi.us
Anyway, we receive the bare minimum in state funding – $6,700/student. The teachers are represented by the Michigan Association of Teachers (AFT), which represents 41 districts throughout the state of Michigan. Of those 41 districts, 14 receive the same funding my district does, while 2 receive over $10,000/student? Are my students worth less? Of course not. But they receive less as we laid off 30 teachers in November.
Charter schools are swarming like vultures in my district. At this rate, there will be no public schools in my district in about 5 years. The voters will have lost their collective voices. No one knows this is happening.
This is my first diary, I didn’t mean it to be a rant.
There are so many things working to destroy our public schools that not ranting about it is almost impossible.
Great diary and kudos to you and the other 9,999 out there marching. The disparity in the funding of schools is really shameful, and quite deliberate I’m convinced. Gotta have a poor worker bee class, ya know. Good to see the politicians there stepping up to the plate and pointing out where the problems are coming from.
Charter schools are another story entirely… I think some good could come out of them, especially for specialized curriculum, but where there is money to be had (and children to exploit) vultures are never far behind.
Great first diary š
charter schools lays in the fact that they are not accountable in a democratic manner. They are not overseen by local school boards – generally.
In Michigan, they do not have to publicize test scores and can be run by for-profit companies. This is a serious issue.
I don’t have a beef with a school district that wants to set up a magnet school, with specialized or innovative techniques. Those schools are overseen by elected officials. But, charter schools are separate entities that compete with public school boards. In the case of the town where I work, if charters are successful in running the public schools out of business, what “choice” will parents have? None and perhaps no recourse.
by the way, for reading and commenting.
It’s a subject worth ranting about! Education has been sneakily privatized for too long and funding for public schools is a real problem. I’m really pleased you got such a good turnout!
I believe the education arena will be the battleground for the future. We’re finding our voices in terms of fighting the war, fighting Bolton. Wait until teachers and others find their voices about No Child Left Behind. This is going to happen. But we must stop the war first, so that there will be resources with which to educate our children.
Stopping war is key. What we also must consider is a truly equitable tax code that will pay for real social services.
I echo your comments about the grossly unfair public funding of schools in Michigan. And the state Legislature has done little to truly equalize funding across districts. I’ll show some the funding again to emphasize your point:
Bloomfield Hills – $11,955
Farmington Hills – 10,068
Chippewa Valley – $6,700
Hamtramck – $6,700
And these are Public Funding Dollars, folks. Want to guess where there are more affluent children, and more children living in poverty?
And those of you who support Charter Schools, did you know that in Michigan, (as in many states), Charter Schools do not have to report the details of their budgets to the public? Therefore, if they skim off a lot of their funding into profits, away from instruction, no one would ever know. That’s one reason why I detest the idea of having profit-making companies running schools. I cannot see how the economics of schooling would ever allow for profits and also doing a decent job, especially when your first obligation is to the shareholder/owners, not to the children or the public.
If you think this a Michigan situation only, check out your own state. The anti-tax movement nationally has served to de-fund schools nation-wide.
Thanks for a great diary, this is a very important issue!
Thanks for the extra input Kidspeak. I am surprised by the low funding for Chippewa Valley.
Not only are charter schools skimming off profit, but they are also skimming off kickbacks. In Hamtramck, St. Florian’s Catholic School has closed, for the final time. They have rented the school out to a charter corporation. The church bulletin said that for every child the church brings to the charter, the corporation will donate 10%, $670, to the church.
I am sure that they will call it rent or something else in the books.
Yes, I’d heard this, too. I live very close to Hamtramck, in Detroit. My husband is a Detroit public school teacher, we’ve seen the problems of the charter schools on a larger scale here. There are too many churches jumping into the charter business, thinking the money is plentiful – or working with a profit-maker like the people at St. Florian’s. Frankly, given the lack of legal accountability, I don’t think the charter company will need to say anything about the kickback to the church. They aren’t required to spend much of the money in any particular way. For some churches, it seems like a way to keep the schools open, but I am not at all optimistic.
My husband’s school sees quite a few children who get booted out of the charters right after “count day”, and precious little help services offered to the children in those schools.
Oh, and the funding info came from the nether regions of the state website.
charters, parents who wanted to move their child were actually told that they weren’t allowed to move that child until after count day. The charter school implied that the law prohibited moving the child.