tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post5868660847615521095..comments2023-04-24T23:09:57.655-04:00Comments on All Things Education: In Virginia, an opportunity to undermine the institution of public, democratic educationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-14620455348875186712013-04-06T10:31:27.189-04:002013-04-06T10:31:27.189-04:00Good piece. Read and tweeted, and will comment. An...Good piece. Read and tweeted, and will comment. And welcome to my nightmare.<br /> <br />You make reference to what is happening in Michigan, but charter takeovers of <br />entire districts is only the tip of the iceberg. <br /> <br />An "Education Achievement Authority" bill has passed the House and will likely <br />pass the Senate, allowing state takeover of 50 persistently low-performing districts.<br />Because MI has about 550 districts, this doesn't feel onerous to some people (the <br />ones whose public schools aren't threatened). But the districts that would be <br />taken over--contracts voided, employees fired, new programs set in place, resources<br />sold--are generally large urban districts. Added together, a very large percentage of <br />MI public school students will be impacted.<br /> <br />hthttp://www.annarbor.com/news/education/bill-that-would-expand-education-achievement-authority-narrowly-passes-in-state-house/<br /> <br />Even worse, an Emergency Manager bill that was rescinded by voters in a Nov referendum<br />has been re-created and re-passed by the MI legislature (as a final smackdown after making <br />MI a RTW state in Dec lame duck session). This bill allows the Governor to disenfranchise<br />elected municipal boards, take over city and township resources and budgets, vacate <br />contracts, etc in financially stressed cities and towns.<br /> <br />http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2013/04/01/news/doc5159dee7b289b650516689.txt<br /> <br />About the only positive thing in all this is that all of these naked power grabs are coming<br />to the attention of the general public. In MI, outstate citizens and voters have long ignored<br />and neglected Detroit (where the city council and schools have lost control over their own<br />management repeatedly). "It's just Detroit"--and "those people"-- have been the watchwords.<br /><br />Now that the threat of takeover is closer, more people are paying attention.<br /> <br />These days, every day feels like April 1, living in Michigan.<br /> Nancy Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047575960944913289noreply@blogger.com