Let’s play Legislative Whack-A-Mole!
The Michigan Legislature has steadily been doing everything in their power to destroy the entire concept of public education over the past four years. Now, during the lame duck session this year, outgoing and timed-out legislators are raising their hands high in support of as much bad policy as they can possibly cram through. To repeat a phrase used by my friend Steve Norton at Michigan Parents for Schools, legislators are playing ?Legislative Whack-A-Mole.?
Codifying the EAA
In the Senate they are considering HB 5112, which is a Trojan Horse that will greatly expand the statewide ?recovery? district currently known as the Educational Achievement Authority (EAA). The EAA has undergone several name changes over the last two years in order to make it sound more palatable to voters. It isn’t working. When you have such a huge pile of crap, there is no disguising the smell.
For a petition to oppose this legislation and more information on it, feel free to visit this link for a handy submission form courtesy of Michigan Parents for Schools.
Early Warning bills to promote state take-over of local schools
Last week the Senate passed through a host of ?early warning? bills that specify additional trigger warning signals that will promote state take-over of local districts. Those bills – SB951, SB952, SB953, SB954, and SB957 – are now poised to sail through House approval and be sent on to the governor for signature.
The bills would ?amend various statutes to prescribe measures for financially distressed school districts.??Each of these bills makes changes to the State School Aid Act, the Revised School Code, or the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act and will greatly increase the potential for easier state take-over of troubled districts.
?These bills escalate the penalties for districts in financial difficulty – and layer on reporting requirements that seem primarily aimed at placing blame on the locals – while completely failing to acknowledge that districts might be in distress because of the actions of the Legislature. The bill package continues the neat shift of blame: the Legislature and Governor make the decisions about school funding, but the responsibility for cutting programs and opportunities available to our children is left for local school boards to shoulder.?? Courtesy?Michigan Parents for Schools
What this means for many districts, coupled with pending budget cuts and financial losses from declining enrollments due to people moving out of state, to other districts, and uncapped charter school expansions is that many districts will be found insolvent and have no options to correct budgetary shortfalls before the state swoops in and takes over their schools.
To send a letter to oppose this legislation and more information on it, feel free to visit this link also courtesy of Michigan Parents for Schools.
Did Snyder ?predict? this chain of events? And then make it happen?
On October 31, 2010 ? a mere two days before first winning the governor’s seat in Michigan ? Rick Snyder answered interview questions for Ann Arbor.com. It was the first time during the entire campaign that he really discussed any of his thoughts and plans for the state if he were elected. During that interview he stated something that has haunted me. When asked to elaborate on why consolidation of services was vital for municipalities he responded,
??Literally there’s a fairly significant likelihood that you could have hundreds of jurisdictions going insolvent in the 2013, 14 time frame, if not sooner. It’s not just a Michigan issue. This is the next hidden national issue.?
By crippling school districts, you cause municipalities to struggle. People move out, tax revenue decreases, real estate sales plummet, and communities become insolvent. Think about that for a moment and then consider?
This man has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2016. THAT should worry every citizen in this nation.
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