Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. 2002 April March February January 2001 2000 |
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Charter School Expansion Legislation Still A Threat Wayne County Community College Separation Bomb Threat Bill Awaiting Governors Signature State Legislation would Improve School Infrastructure Executive Order Allows Private Company/School Partnerships Legislation Moving on Declining Enrollment for Upper Peninsula Service Credit for 4-Day School Week State Faces Revenue Shortfall may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top Charter School Expansion Legislation Still A Threat MFT&SRP, along with many other education and labor organizations, have been working endlessly to defeat House Bill 4800 which would allow the expansion of charter schools in Michigan. It has been reported in various news media that House Bill 4800 was defeated in the House. This is only partially true! On May 1, the House defeated the bill by only one vote. All Democrats in the House that were present, voted NO except Lamar Lemmons. All Republicans voted YES except for the following: Pan Godchaux, Mike Pumford, Ron Jelinek, John Stewart, and Judy Scranton. A NO vote is the desired vote. The leadership immediately requested a reconsideration vote, which means whenever House leadership believe they have enough votes, they will call for another vote on House Bill 4800. Please contact your state legislators immediately urging a NO vote on House Bill 4800. For your convenience, a pre-written letter is on this website. Go to the Legislative Hotline page: http://www.mftsrp.org/legislative.html and select the ACTION ALERT 'Michigan Charter School Expansion'. Suggested talking point are:
Return to Top Wayne County Community College Separation The Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel is very concerned about the potential impact of House Bill 5157 (ONeil, D-Allen Park) on the future of Wayne County Community College. This bill proposes that:
Return to Top Bomb Threat Bill Awaiting Governors Signature As amended in the House, Senate Bill 645 (Garcia, R-St. Johns), would give the Secretary of State the option of delaying the issuance of a driver license of a youth 13 years old or younger until age 17 convicted of making a false bomb threat. The Secretary of State could also revoke the driver license for three years of anyone between 14 and 21 who calls in a bomb threat. The Senate has concurred with the amended House version and it has been presented to the Governor for his signature. Return to Top State Legislation would Improve School Infrastructure Senate Bill 1137 (Stille, R-Spring Lake) would bring a $1 billion bond proposal for school infrastructure to the voters across the state on the November ballot. Because it is a ballot proposal, it requires a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature, and of course, the Governors signature. This proposal would create a state fund that school districts would be able to borrow from for school construction projects. To bring greater equity to Michigans property tax driven system, the proposal would allow districts to borrow all or part of the total bond at a zero percent interest rate. At their May 21 hearing, the Senate Education Committee made a major change to the proposal that would set up priorities on which school districts would get the most help in paying off bonds, with some districts eligible to get 100 percent of the interest on bonds paid by the state. As adopted by the committee, the proposal divides the state's 555 public school districts into quintiles, based on the average state equalized value per each student in the individual districts. The intent of this legislation is for the districts in the bottom fifth to have 100 percent of their bond interest paid for by the state; those in the next lowest level to have 75 percent of their interest paid for; in the middle level 50 percent of the interest; in the second highest the districts to get 25 percent of their interest paid and in the highest level just 10 percent of the interest paid. The assistance available to the districts would be in addition to that available through the state's school bond loan fund. Senate Bill 1137 has been reported out of the Senate Education Committee, however, some changes are still slated to be made on the Senate floor. Return to Top Executive Order Allows Private Company/School Partnerships Executive Order 2002-3 created the Public Education Facilities Authority. This new authority will take advantage of new federal law allowing private companies to seek tax-exempt bonds to finance projects in partnership with schools, as well as some authority it will gain from the Municipal Bond Authority to private loans to schools for building work. This new authority will be run by a four-person appointed board in the Department of Treasury and was designed for charter schools, although traditional school districts would not be excluded. The Federal Bonding Authority allows private development companies to partner with schools to build or renovate a building as long as the agreement passes ownership of the building to the school after twenty years. Return to Top Legislation Moving on Declining Enrollment for Upper Peninsula The House has passed House Bill 4373 (Shulman, R-West Bloomfield) to provide public schools in the Upper Peninsula $3.5 million to address declining enrollment problems. House Bill 4373 is a supplemental budget bill for fiscal year 2002, and is currently before the Senate Education Committee. For fiscal year 2003, it allows Upper Peninsula districts with 1,550 pupils or less and 4.5 miles per student to use a 3-year average as their pupil membership. It also allows a district that educates high school students from a contiguous district to use the square mileage of both districts in determining the number of pupils per square mile under this subsection. The House had included the money in the school aid budget, but the conference committee replaced it with a program to provide grants for technology improvements. At the same time, the Senate passed Senate Bill 287 (Gast, R-St. Joseph), which also contains $3.5 million to address the declining enrollment problems. However, the provisions contained in House Bill 4373 are more specific. Senate Bill 287 is current before the House Appropriations Committee. Return to Top Service Credit for 4-Day School Week Under the Public School Employees Retirement Act, a member is granted one year of service credit (as a full-time employee) if he or she worked for at least 6 hours per day and for at least 170 days in a school year (1020 hours). Partial service credit is granted for employment less than that amount. House Bill 5986 (Adamini, D-Marquette) would amend this provision to add language specifying that if the member works for a reporting unit (a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, community college, university, or other agency) that operates for less than 170 days in a school fiscal year, one year of retirement service credit would be granted if the member has worked at least 7.5 hours per day and at least 136 days in a school fiscal year (1020 hours). The Republic-Michigamme School District in the Upper Peninsula, a small district with declining enrollment, is considering an alternative school week schedule for next school year, consisting of a four-day school week with lengthened days. Reportedly, the school board adopted a resolution in support of the pilot project in March. The state superintendent of public instruction granted a waiver of the 180-day calendar requirement, contingent upon evidence of staff and community support and the incorporation of a process to evaluate the educational impact of the calendar change. In addition to a waiver under the State School Aid Act, it is necessary to amend the Public School Employees Retirement Act to allow school employees to earn a full year of service credit for a year of employment under the alternative school week schedule. House Bill 5986 has been approved by the House Committee on Senior Health, Security and Retirement and is on the floor of the House where a vote could occur at any time. Return to Top State Faces Revenue Shortfall At the Revenue Estimating Conference on May 16, state fiscal experts predicted a revenue shortfall of $368 million this year and $325 million next year. This deficit will force lawmakers for the second year in a row to cut spending or boost revenues to balance the budget. The Legislature enacted a $9.3 billion general fund budget for 2002, and Governor John Engler has proposed a $9.2 billion budget for 2003. Fixing the problem for 2002 is particularly tough because the state is nearly two-thirds through the spending year. Lawmakers hope to deal with the budgets for both years before they break for the summer at the end of May or early June. Besides considering budget cuts, they also could delay scheduled cuts in state income and the single business taxes. According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, raising the cigarette tax by 25 cents a pack would generate about $130 million, delaying the Single Business Tax would save about $87 million, and delaying the income tax reduction would save about $125 million. As you will recall, all three education budgets for next year have been signed into law. Universities agreed to hold tuition hikes to 8.5 percent in exchange for a state promise not to cut funding. The MFT&SRP will be lobbying lawmakers to keep that promise. The state fiscal experts also lowered revenue estimates for the school aid fund by $80 million in 2002 and $62.5 million in 2003, but officials expect that to be a less serious problem. The $13- billion state school aid budget, covered mostly by steadily rising sales tax revenues, should be able to maintain the $6,700-per pupil grants promised for local schools next fall. Experts project a $205-million fund surplus this year and a moderate, $10-million deficit next year. Financial experts said an unexpected reduction in income tax collections triggered Michigan's latest financial problems. Much of the problem exists because many taxpayers' adjusted gross incomes dropped because of the declining stock market. Economists who testified at the revenue-setting conference predicted a moderate economic recovery later this year. bk:opeiu42aflcio |
