Continued "Works in Progress" on ONE-D Drop-Out Prevention Strategic Initiative

With the August 4th & 5th fast approaching, I am sending you this reminder to RSVP for the Conversations with Intermediaries at www.oned.org

---

Greetings Jim,

As one of more than 300 school, union, and community leaders at the One D Dropout Prevention Summit this past April, you are invited to attend "Conversations with Intermediaries" at Lawrence Technological University on Monday, August 4 or Tuesday, August 5, 2008.

This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to meet with proven "Turnaround Partners" in smaller sessions designed to help school and community leaders improve conditions in their schools to reduce the dropout rate. You can meet representatives from EdWorks, First Things First, and the Institute for Student Achievement, all of whom have achieved amazing results in partnering with high schools in other cities around the nation.

Please see the attached schedule to select the sessions you should attend and register at www.oned.org by Friday, August 1. I look forward to seeing you as we work together to improve graduation rates in our region. If you have any questions, please call Annette Grays at (313) 226-9419 or email her at annette.grays@uwsem.org.

Thank you,
Mike

Michael F. Tenbusch
Vice President, Educational Preparedness
United Way for Southeastern Michigan
1212 Griswold Street
Detroit, Michigan 48226
w (313) 226-9437
f (313) 226-9324

STILL!

---

July 29, 2008

Op-Ed Columnist

The Biggest Issue

By DAVID BROOKS

Why did the United States become the leading economic power of the 20th century? The best short answer is that a ferocious belief that people have the power to transform their own lives gave Americans an unparalleled commitment to education, hard work and economic freedom.

Between 1870 and 1950, the average American’s level of education rose by 0.8 years per decade. In 1890, the average adult had completed about 8 years of schooling. By 1900, the average American had 8.8 years. By 1910, it was 9.6 years, and by 1960, it was nearly 14 years.

As Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz describe in their book, “The Race Between Education and Technology,” America’s educational progress was amazingly steady over those decades, and the U.S. opened up a gigantic global lead. Educational levels were rising across the industrialized world, but the U.S. had at least a 35-year advantage on most of Europe. In 1950, no European country enrolled 30 percent of its older teens in full-time secondary school. In the U.S., 70 percent of older teens were in school.

America’s edge boosted productivity and growth. But the happy era ended around 1970 when America’s educational progress slowed to a crawl. Between 1975 and 1990, educational attainments stagnated completely. Since then, progress has been modest. America’s lead over its economic rivals has been entirely forfeited, with many nations surging ahead in school attainment.

This threatens the country’s long-term prospects. It also widens the gap between rich and poor. Goldin and Katz describe a race between technology and education. The pace of technological change has been surprisingly steady. In periods when educational progress outpaces this change, inequality narrows. The market is flooded with skilled workers, so their wages rise modestly. In periods, like the current one, when educational progress lags behind technological change, inequality widens. The relatively few skilled workers command higher prices, while the many unskilled ones have little bargaining power.

The meticulous research of Goldin and Katz is complemented by a report from James Heckman of the University of Chicago. Using his own research, Heckman also concludes that high school graduation rates peaked in the U.S. in the late 1960s, at about 80 percent. Since then they have declined.

In “Schools, Skills and Synapses,” Heckman probes the sources of that decline. It’s not falling school quality, he argues. Nor is it primarily a shortage of funding or rising college tuition costs. Instead, Heckman directs attention at family environments, which have deteriorated over the past 40 years.

Heckman points out that big gaps in educational attainment are present at age 5. Some children are bathed in an atmosphere that promotes human capital development and, increasingly, more are not. By 5, it is possible to predict, with depressing accuracy, who will complete high school and college and who won’t.

I.Q. matters, but Heckman points to equally important traits that start and then build from those early years: motivation levels, emotional stability, self-control and sociability. He uses common sense to intuit what these traits are, but on this subject economists have a lot to learn from developmental psychologists.

I point to these two research projects because the skills slowdown is the biggest issue facing the country. Rising gas prices are bound to dominate the election because voters are slapped in the face with them every time they visit the pump. But this slow-moving problem, more than any other, will shape the destiny of the nation.

Second, there is a big debate under way over the sources of middle-class economic anxiety. Some populists emphasize the destructive forces of globalization, outsourcing and predatory capitalism. These people say we need radical labor market reforms to give the working class a chance. But the populists are going to have to grapple with the Goldin, Katz and Heckman research, which powerfully buttresses the arguments of those who emphasize human capital policies. It’s not globalization or immigration or computers per se that widen inequality. It’s the skills gap. Boosting educational attainment at the bottom is more promising than trying to reorganize the global economy.

Third, it’s worth noting that both sides of this debate exist within the Democratic Party. The G.O.P. is largely irrelevant. If you look at Barack Obama’s education proposals — especially his emphasis on early childhood — you see that they flow naturally and persuasively from this research. (It probably helps that Obama and Heckman are nearly neighbors in Chicago). McCain’s policies seem largely oblivious to these findings. There’s some vague talk about school choice, but Republicans are inept when talking about human capital policies.

America rose because it got more out of its own people than other nations. That stopped in 1970. Now, other issues grab headlines and campaign attention. But this tectonic plate is still relentlessly and menacingly shifting beneath our feet.

An Example of a "Communities of Designers" Execution & Methodology

Class is out to change way educators teach math Ann Arbor

U-M addresses poor testing performance

BY LORI HIGGINS • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • July 28, 2008

The math teacher walked back and forth in the middle of the U-shaped group of tables, often leaning down to talk to students who needed help or sending students to the front of the room to demonstrate their work for others.

"Fractions are one of the most important parts of math that can help you do well in middle school and high school," Deborah Loewenberg Ball told the two dozen students seated before her as they embarked on a lesson about fractions.

This is no typical summer math class. And Ball is no ordinary teacher.

Cameras are recording every move the class makes. And in the back of the room, a group of adults -- some teachers, some teacher educators, some researchers -- are paying rapt attention. As is another group of adults watching on large screens in a room next door.

The two-week class, called the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory, is one of the ways the University of Michigan School of Education is working to improve math education.

Ball, the dean of the school and a math educator, said all kids can learn math and succeed; they just need to be taught well. And a large part of this class is about showing teachers -- and students training to become one -- effective methods for teaching math.

It's a crucial goal because there is growing concern across the country about the poor math performance of U.S. students.

In Michigan, that concern was increased this past school year as many ninth-graders struggled with tough new graduation requirements mandating far more math than before.

The new rules, Ball said, are "on the one hand, the right thing to do." But she worries that if schools don't adapt and provide support for students, "we're just going to fail more kids.

"We need to invest more on younger kids," she said.

And that's what they're doing in the math lab.

Not only are a group of fifth-graders getting a boost in math, but teachers are getting a boost, too.

The educators are learning about different teaching methods by watching a demonstration daily for two weeks.

They then participate in briefings before class, where Ball presents the lesson of the day. There, the participants can raise concerns about the lesson, make suggestions, or ask questions. After

Ball is done teaching, the group gets together again for a debriefing.

While that's happening, the fifth-graders participate in an enrichment activity. And later in the day, they work one-on-one with U-M students who tutor in math and are training to become teachers.

Katherine Fye, a second-grade teacher at Chapelle Community School in Ypsilanti, is a former student of Ball.

Fye said she signed up for the class to learn how to incorporate some of Ball's instructional methods, such as how to layer many concepts in one lesson; get kids to understand the reasoning behind why an answer is right or wrong, and how to give students time to think.

Midway through the third day, Fye was gushing about the impact of being part of the program. She said she's never been part of such a diverse group of people all working toward improving math education.

"This is the most unique thing ever," she said.

Bria Goffney, who'll be a fifth-grader at Childs Elementary School in Ypsilanti, said she was nervous at first when she heard cameras would be filming.

But she's gotten used to it. Besides, she said, they're not watching her; they're watching how she's being taught.

"If they're not learning from a good teacher, then they're not learning from the right people, and they're not going to be a good teacher," Bria said.

Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or lhiggins@freepress.com.

AIM Program Students Return! CONGRATULATIONS!

Friday, July 25, 2008 53 Detroit Students Learn First Hand About Digital Forensics, Cyber Security

YPSILANTI – Fifty three Detroit high school students, a majority female and most minorities, spent this week at Eastern Michigan University leaning about the burgeoning world of digital forensics and network security. Students will serve a summer internship next year with a Detroit city department or contractor to work on a real project to put their new skills to work. The week-long workshop gave students entry-level training in geographic information systems and information assurance, Computer Forensics and Network Security. The program, hosted by the EMU Information Assurance Center, and the Detroit Public Schools, also exposed these teenagers to geographic information systems and information assurance. "What was most eye opening for me, is none of them ever heard of GIS or Network Security," said Skip Lawver, Professor of Information Assurance at EMU and co-project director for the Detroit iTest Youth Project. "We got them into cyber defense. They didn't know file deleted on a computer was still there. These kids are so excited, it's hard to keep a lid on them. Three of them want to pursue bachelor's degrees in GIS, Cyber security or Networking. We even got one parent enrolling in our Information Assurance Master's degree program." The program is funded by a $889,000 grant from the National Science Founcation. For more information, click on EMICH.Edu/Cerns

Author: Mike Brennan Source: MITechNews.Com

AIM Program (Let It SHINE on Everybody)

This Little Light of Mine

Written By: Unknown, Copyright: Unknown

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine

Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine

Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine

Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine

Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

Shine all over Detroit, I'm gonna let it shine

Shine all over Detroit, I'm gonna let it shine

Shine all over Detroit, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

AIM WORKS! (URGENCY WORKS / OR NOT)

LEONARD PITTS JR. WHAT WORKS

Stand up, get involved to save children

BY LEONARD PITTS JR. • McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • July 22, 2008

This will be the last "What Works" column.

I reserve the right to report occasionally on any program I run across that shows results in saving the lives and futures of African-American kids. But this is the last in the series I started 19 months ago to spotlight such programs.

Let me begin by thanking you for your overwhelming response to my request for nominations, and to thank everyone from every program who allowed me to peek behind the scenes. From the Harlem Children's Zone in New York to SEI (Self-Enhancement Inc.) in Portland, Ore., I have been privileged and uplifted to see dedicated people doing amazing work.

I am often asked whether I've found common denominators in all these successful programs, anything we can use in helping kids at risk. The short answer is, yes. You want to know what works?

Longer school days and longer school years work. Giving principals the power to hire good teachers and fire bad ones works. High expectations work. Giving a teacher freedom to hug a child who needs hugging works. Parental involvement works. Counseling for troubled students and families works. Consistency of effort works. Incentives work. Field trips that expose kids to possibilities you can't see from their broken neighborhoods work.

Indeed, the most important thing I've learned is that none of this is rocket science. We already know what works. What we lack is the will to do it. Instead, we have a hit-and-miss patchwork of programs achieving stellar results out on the fringes of the larger, failing, system. Why are they the exception and not the rule?

If we know what works, why don't we simply do it?

Nineteen months ago when I started, I asked Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone why anyone should pay to help him help poor kids in crumbling neighborhoods. He told me, "Someone's yelling at me because I'm spending $3,500 a year on 'Alfred.' Alfred is 8. OK, Alfred turns 18. No one thinks anything about locking him up for 10 years at $60,000 a year."
Amen.

Forget the notion of a moral obligation to uplift failing children. Consider the math instead. If that investment of $3,500 per annum creates a functioning adult who pays taxes and otherwise contributes to the system, why would we pass that up in favor of creating, 10 years later, an adult who drains the system to the tune of $60,000 a year for his incarceration alone, to say nothing of the other costs he foists upon society?

How does that make sense? Nineteen months later, I have yet to find a good answer.

Instead, I find passivity. "Save the Children," Marvin Gaye exhorted 27 years ago. But we are losing the children in obscene numbers. Losing them to jails, losing them to graves, losing them to illiteracy, teen parenthood, and other dead-ends and cul-de-sacs of life. But I have yet to hear America -- or even African America -- scream about it. Does no one else see a crisis here?

"I don't think that in America, especially in black America, we can arrest this problem unless we understand the urgency of it," says Tony Hopson Sr., founder of SEI. "When I say urgency, I'm talking 9/11 urgency, I'm talking Hurricane Katrina urgency, things that stop a nation. I don't think in black America this is urgent enough.

"Kids are dying every single day. I don't see where the NAACP, the Urban League, the Black Caucus, have decided that the fact that black boys are being locked up at alarming rates means we need to stop the nation and have a discussion about how we're going to eradicate that as a problem. It has not become urgent enough. If black America doesn't see it as urgent enough, how dare us think white America is going to think it's urgent enough?"

In other words, stand up. Get angry. Stop accepting what is clearly unacceptable. I'll bet you that works, too.

LEONARD PITTS JR. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

21st Century AIM Strategy Continues to Unfold!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Editorial

Senate school budget creates room for more competition

Detroit will remain Michigan's only first-class school district under a budget deal hammered out by the state Senate. But parents who see the irony in describing the miserable Detroit Public Schools as "first class" will have more options for getting their children a decent education.

That's the best outcome that could be hoped for, and the compromise package should be approved when it goes to the state House this week.

Detroit has enjoyed first-class status as the state's only district with more than 100,000 students. That has entitled it to additional funds from the state, up to $15 million more in some years.

But the district is expected to fall under 100,000 when classes resume in September, setting off a scramble in the Legislature to redefine the size of a first-class district. Senate Republicans wisely tied a lowering of the first-class threshold to 60,000 students to a preservation of a law that opens Detroit for more charter schools once enrollment falls below 100,000.

So Detroit keeps its special funding, which we hope it will use to rapidly address a dropout rate that may be as high as 75 percent. And parents who are tired of waiting for the Detroit Public Schools turnaround will have more options.

Some GOP senators wanted more in exchange for preserving the first-class status, including a much-needed state audit of the district's finances.

With the district facing a $400 million deficit -- roughly one-third of its total budget -- a careful accounting of how it is using its money would seem to be in order.

"That's a fairly significant gift for the district of Detroit for which we get nothing in return," Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, Senate Education Committee chairman, said after he voted no on the plan. "We get no deficit reduction plan, no power to audit the district."

But in truth, the introduction of more high-quality charters is the best education reform Detroit parents could ask for from the Legislature. It will force Detroit school district to either fix itself or wither away.

Parents who have an alternative will not keep their children in failing schools. This is, in effect, a last chance for Detroit to get it right.

And some opportunities for reform remain. The Senate allotted $15 million to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's small school initiative -- about half of what she requested. The money will be used to spur and reward the creation of smaller high schools with site-based management, giving principals the power to hire and fire teachers.

By demanding such practices from schools, which will compete for up to $3 million per grant, Granholm's venture fund may serve as a catalyst for improving teacher quality in areas with high dropout rates.

And the governor promises to spend as much as one-third of the money on the best charter schools -- spurring all schools to compete harder and innovate to better serve their students.

The Senate deal maintains an opportunity for Detroit Public Schools to turn itself around. And it also frees parents and children from the long wait for better schools.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: The Institutional Coordination Obstacle vs. Enabled Cooperative Infrastructure (Communities of Designers)

Shades of Things to Come (By DESIGN)

SMALL SCHOOLS GETS SMALL ALLOWANCE!

LEGISLATURE

School aid plan gets Senate approval

Funding increase not enough, some say

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF and LORI HIGGINS • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • July 18, 2008

LANSING -- The state Senate approved a school budget compromise Thursday that would give school districts an additional $56 to $122 per pupil and set aside $15 million for districts to create new, smaller high schools aimed at reducing dropout rates.

The House is expected to take action on the school budget when it returns to session Wednesday. The $13.4-billion school aid plan would be the last large piece of the 2008-09 budget to be enacted. Lawmakers finished most of the rest of the budget before they broke for summer recess two weeks ago.

But some school officials say that although they're pleased to see an increase, it won't come close to covering their rising costs.

"Our fuel costs went up 42%, our health care costs are increasing about 10% and our retirement costs continue to go up. Those are double-digit increases," said Betsy Erikson, spokeswoman for Bloomfield Hills Schools, which would see an increase in state funding of less than 1%.

Richard Repicky, superintendent at Fraser Public Schools, said this will be the seventh year in a row the district will have received a state increase of about 1%.

"If it was one year at 1%, we'd be fine. But seven years in a row at 1% is killing school districts."

The $15 million for smaller high schools is less than half of the $32 million Gov. Jennifer Granholm had requested. The fund would give out $3 million in direct start-up grants to some districts with high dropout rates, rather than pay off bonds to build the revamped high schools.

Senate Republicans, who hold a majority, held fast against selling more state bonds for the school plan, which Granholm had proposed.

The basic grant to all schools would increase depending on how much each district now receives; lower-spending districts would receive larger increases. The increases are about half of what Granholm originally proposed because state revenues have come in less than expected since January.

The conference committee agreement also would add $10 million to early childhood education programs.

Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, chairman of the House-Senate conference, predicted most of the increase will pay for school districts' increased costs for heating and gasoline for buses.

Robert LeFevre, lobbyist for the Macomb Intermediate School District, said he doubts the state will have the money to pay for the proposed increases by the end of the year because of a still-faltering economy.

"We've told our districts to budget as low as possible," LeFevre said. "It's very uncertain what the numbers will be."

The budget deal also calls for a change in the definition of what constitutes a first-class school district, although the impact of the change was not immediately clear.

Currently, only a district with 100,000 pupils or more qualifies as a first-class district. Only Detroit meets that threshold, which gives it some financial protections and also prevents community colleges from sponsoring charter schools in its boundaries.

The funding bill eliminates a long-standing provision that prohibits other school districts from establishing their own schools or programs within the City of Detroit without the Detroit school board's permission. That would not apply to charter schools, however, which are governed by a separate law. But the district is expected to fall below 100,000 students this fall, and the state school aid bill would drop the minimum enrollment to 60,000 for a first-class district.

However, the definition of a first-class school district also is in the school code, and that may need to be amended to make the change effective, according to district spokesman Steve Wasko.

"We certainly feel it was an appropriate move from the Senate," Wasko said.

Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 517-372-8660 or cchristoff@freepress.com.

AIM is for Drop-Out Interventions (AND so MUCH MORE!)

LOCAL COMMENT

Preschool prevents dropouts

BY BRIAN MACKIE • July 16, 2008

When high school students do not graduate on schedule, or drop out, they lose, and we all lose. When children get a "Great Start," we all win.

As they reconvene today in Lansing to complete work on budget bills, state legislators can make sure we are all winners by including funds for proven dropout-prevention programs in the school aid bill.

Law enforcement leaders want kids to stay in school, because we know firsthand and through research that high school graduates are less likely to turn to crime. Dropouts are 3 1/2 times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison.

Across the country, 68% of state prison inmates did not receive a high school diploma. According to researchers, a 10% increase in graduation rates reduces murder and assault rates by about 20%.

High-quality preschool is a proven dropout-prevention program. Evidence from several long-term evaluations of the effects of preschool shows that participating in high-quality preschool increases high school graduation rates by as much as 44%. Yet in Michigan, only two of every three eligible at-risk 4-year-old children have access to publicly funded preschool programs such as Great Start School Readiness and Head Start. The remaining third go unserved and are on long waiting lists due to inadequate funding.

Another proven dropout-prevention program proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in the education budget calls for smaller high schools. Such schools, with programs that work with students and their parents, have been proved in other states to be viable interventions to reduce dropout rates and keep students on track for graduation.

Michigan's dropout crisis not only threatens the public's safety but also damages the state economy. Dropouts earn less, pay fewer taxes, and are more likely to collect welfare and turn to crime. The economic losses over time will further erode our fragile economy.

Increased investments in effective programs such as preschool and smaller high schools are needed now in Michigan to increase graduation rates and to save valuable tax dollars in the long run to reinvest in other priorities. We cannot continue to build more prisons to solve the problem of crime. Getting at the front end of crime by nipping it in the bud with proven interventions that give children a "Great Start" are in everyone's best interest.

We know that preventing dropouts saves money and lives. We pay now or we pay much more later on. Let us take the responsible route today and pay the tab, rather than pass it on to future generations.

BRIAN MACKIE is the Washtenaw County prosecutor and statewide cochairman of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan, www.fightcrime.org, a nonprofit organization led by police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and crime survivors. Write to him in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.

The AUTHENTICITY of the DIGITAL COMMONS (Informs OUR Understanding)

THE NEXT RENAISSANCE

To me, "Personal Democracy" is an oxymoron. Democracy may be a lot of things, but the last thing it should be is "personal." I understand "personal responsibility," such as a family having a recycling bin in which they put their glass and metal every week. But even then, a single recycling bin for a whole building or block would be more efficient and appropriate.

Democracy is not personal, because if it's about anything, it's not about the individual. Democracy is about others. It's about transcending the self and acting collectively. Democracy is people, participating together to make the world a better place.

One of the essays in this conference's proceedings—the book "Rebooting Democracy"— remarks snarkily, "It's the network, stupid." That may go over well with all of us digital folks, but it's not true. It's not the network at all; it's the people. The network is the tool—the new medium that might help us get over the bias of our broadcasting technologies. All those technologies that keep us focused on ourselves as individuals, and away from our reality as a collective.

This focus on the individual, and its false equation with democracy, began back in the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought us wonderful innovations, such as perspective painting, scientific observation, and the printing press. But each of these innovations defined and celebrated individuality. Perspective painting celebrates the perspective of an individual on a scene. Scientific method showed how the real observations of an individual promote rational thought. The printing press gave individuals the opportunity to read, alone, and cogitate. Individuals formed perspectives, made observations, and formed opinions.

The individual we think of today was actually born in the Renaissance. The Vesuvian Man, Da Vinci's great drawing of a man in a perfect square and circle—independent and self-sufficient. This is the Renaissance ideal.

It was the birth of this thinking, individuated person that led to the ethos underlying the Enlightenment. Once we understood ourselves as individuals, we understood ourselves as having rights. The Rights of Man. A right to property. The right to personal freedom.

The Enlightenment—for all its greatness—was still oh, so personal in its conception. The reader alone in his study, contemplating how his vote matters. One man, one vote. We fight revolutions for our individual rights as we understood them. There were mass actions, but these were masses of individuals, fighting for their personal freedoms.

Ironically, with each leap towards individuality there was a corresponding increase in the power of central authorities. Remember, the Renaissance also brought us centralized currencies, chartered corporations, and nation states. As individuals become concerned with their personal plights, their former power as a collective moves to central authorities. Local currencies, investments, and civic institutions dissolve as self-interest increases. The authority associated with them moves to the center and away from all those voting people.

The media of the Renaissance—the printing press—is likewise terrific at myth-making. At branding. Its stories are told to individuals, either through books, or through broadcast media directed at each and every one of us. Its appeals are to self and self-interest.

Consider any commercial for blue jeans. Its target audience is not a confident person who already has a girlfriend. The commercial communicates, "wear these jeans, and you'll get to have sex." Who is the target for that message? An isolated, alienated person who does not have sex. The messaging targets the individual. If it's a mass medium, it targets many many individuals.

Movements, like myths and brands, depend on this quality of top-down, Renaissance-style media. They are not genuinely collective at all, in that there's no promotion of interaction between the people in them. Instead, all the individuals relate to the hero, ideal, or mythology at the top. Movements are abstract—they have to be. They hover above the group, directing all attention towards themselves.

As I listen to people talk here—well-meaning progressives, no doubt—I can't help but hear the romantic, almost desperate desire to become part of a movement. To become part of something famous, like the Obama campaign. Maybe even get a good K-street job out of the connections we make here. It's a fantasy perpetrated by the TV show West Wing. A myth that we want to be part of. But like any myth, it is a fantasy—and one almost entirely prefigured by Renaissance individualism.

The next renaissance (if there is one)—the phenomenon we're talking about or at least around here is not about the individual at all, but about the networked group. The possibility for collective action. The technologies we're using—the biases of these media—cede central authority to decentralized groups. Instead of moving power to the center, they tend to move power to the edges. Instead of creating value from the center—like a centrally issued currency—the network creates value from the periphery.

This means the way to participate is not simply to subscribe to an abstract, already-written myth, but to do real things. To take small actions in real ways. The glory is not in the belief system or the movement, but in the doing. It's not about getting someone elected, it's about removing the obstacles to real people doing what they need to to get the job done. That's the opportunity of the networked, open source era: to drop out of the myths and actually do.

Sadly, we tend to miss the great opportunities offered us by major shifts in media.

The first great renaissance in media, the invention of the alphabet, offered a tremendous leap for participatory democracy. Only priests could read and write hieroglyphs. The invention of the alphabet opened the possibility for people to read or even possibly write, themselves. In Torah myth, Moses goes off with his father-in-law to write the laws by which an enslaved people could now live. Instead of simply accepting legislation and government as a pre-existing condition—the God Pharaoh—people would develop and write down the law as they wanted it. Even the Torah is written in the form of a contract, and God creates the world with a word.

Access to language was to change a world of blind, enslaved rule followers into a civilization of literate people. (This is what is meant when God tells Abraham "you will be a nation of priests." It means they are to be a nation of people who transcend heiro-glyphs or "priestly-writing" to become literate.)

But this isn't what happened. People didn't read Torah—they listened as their leaders read it to them. Hearing was a step up from simply following, but the promise of the new medium had not been seized.

Likewise, the invention of the printing press did not lead to a civilization of writers—it developed a culture of readers. Gentlemen sat reading books, while the printing presses were accessed by those with the money or power to use them. The people remained one step behind the technology. Broadcast radio and television are really just an extension of the printing press: expensive, one-to-many media that promote the mass distribution of the stories and ideas of a small elite.

Computers and networks finally offer us the ability to write. And we do write with them. Everyone is a blogger, now. Citizen bloggers and YouTubers who believe we have now embraced a new "personal" democracy. Personal, because we can sit safely at home with our laptops and type our way to freedom.

But writing is not the capability being offered us by these tools at all. The capability is programming—which almost none of us really know how to do. We simply use the programs that have been made for us, and enter our blog text in the appropriate box on the screen. Nothing against the strides made by citizen bloggers and journalists, but big deal. Let them eat blog.

At the very least on a metaphorical level, the opportunity here is not to write about politics or—more likely—comment on what someone else has said about politics. The opportunity, however, is to rewrite the very rules by which democracy is implemented. The opportunity of a renaissance in programming is to reconfigure the process through which democracy occurs.

If Obama is indeed elected—the first truly Internet-enabled candidate—we should take him at his word. He does not offer himself as the agent of change, but as an advocate of the change that could be enacted by people. It is not for government to create solar power, for example, but to get out of the way of all those people who are ready to implement solar power, themselves. Responding to the willingness of people to act, he can remove regulations developed on behalf of the oil industry to restrict its proliferation.

In an era when people have the ability to reprogram their reality, the job of leaders is to help facilitate this activity by tweaking legislation, or by supporting their efforts through better incentives or access to the necessary tools and capital. Change does not come from the top—but from the periphery. Not from a leader or a myth inspiring individuals to consent to it, but from people working to manifest it together.

Open Source Democracy—which I wrote about a decade ago—is not simply a way to get candidates elected to office. It is a collective reprogramming of the social software, a disengagement from the myths through which we abdicate responsibility, and a reclamation of our role as citizens who participate in the creation of the society in which we want to live.

This is not personal democracy at all, but a collective and participatory democracy where we finally accept our roles as the fully literate and engaged adults who can make this happen.

[Postscript: At the conference's closing ceremony Personal Democracy Forum founder Andrew Rasiej announced he would be changing the name of the conference to the Participatory Democracy Forum.]

Pontiac Schools THOUGHT-LEADERS "Meet and Greet"

"JUST AIM for the FACTS Mame, NOTHING but the FACTS!"

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Editorial

State should publish honest high school graduation rates

Three years ago, Gov. Jennifer Granholm promised to adopt a new strategy to ensure Michigan would get a better grasp of one of its most pressing challenges: high school dropout rates. Now, the state appears to be breaking that promise, adopting instead a measuring system that is likely to mask the full extent of the problem.

Granholm signed a compact with the National Governors Association, promising Michigan would adopt its method of calculating graduation rates. It's the most reliable, nationally recognized method for computing such statistics.

But state leaders are backtracking on implementing this measurement.

The Granholm administration promised that it would release state and local graduation rates based on the NGA method next month.

But instead of the governors association's approved method, the state's new numbers will be based on a tweaked measure that is likely to significantly overestimate Michigan graduation rates and undercount its tragic dropout problem.

Under the NGA-approved method, states count the number of students who begin ninth grade together. Those who graduate in four years are considered graduates. Only students who die, are incarcerated or transfer to another school are not counted.

Michigan will stray from that method in important ways, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Detroit News.

First, it will only count first-timeninth-graders in its statistics. Repeat ninth graders will not be counted in the new graduation rate or the dropout rate, said Leslee Fritz, spokesperson for the state Center for Educational Performance and Information.

Second, if Michigan teenagers are in high school for six or seven years or indefinitely, Michigan will never consider them a dropout, as long as they take an occasional class or appear connected somehow to the school district, based on district records. They'll be called "off-track continuing" students.

"We decided to do it this way because the National Governors Association recommended this as the most accurate way to track . . . graduates," Fritz said.

But the National Governors Association says that's not true. Bridget Curran, program director for education at the NGA's Center for Best Practices, said Michigan's new system as described by the state does not follow the NGA method.

"It's just much cleaner if you count the number of students who start together, period," Curran said. "Dropout counts are notoriously bad.

"To better address the problem, you need to know what the problem actually is. That's why (our method) appealed to governors."

The consequences of Michigan's off-track method are many. Repeat ninth-graders are more at risk for dropping out, and by not including them in a four-year graduation count, Michigan will likely falsely raise its reported graduation rate.

And Fritz said state officials do not plan to publicly release the number of "off-track continuing students" -- so taxpayers won't know how many children are truly off track.

The Detroit Public Schools' graduation rate, for example, is expected to be overestimated by as much as 18 to 20 percent under the Michigan formula, said Sharif Shakrani, co-director of Michigan State University's Education Policy Center.

The Granholm administration should reconsider its decision and honor the commitment it made in 2005.

It would be more accurate, more honest and more responsible for the state to report five- and six-year graduation rates to reflect students who need more time to finish high school.

Instead, state officials are essentially pretending such students don't exist -- making the dropout crisis look less severe than it really is and excusing policymakers from the hard work of fixing it.

DRIVING US to Inevitable Digital Solutions

---

July 11, 2008

High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom

By SAM DILLON

NEWTOWN, Pa. — First, Ryan Gibbons bought a Hyundai so he would not have to drive his gas-guzzling Chevy Blazer to college classes here. When fuel prices kept rising, he cut expenses again, eliminating two campus visits a week by enrolling in an online version of one of his courses.

Like Mr. Gibbons, thousands of students nationwide, including many who were previously reluctant to study online, have suddenly decided to take one or more college classes over the Internet.

“Gas prices have pushed people over the edge,” said Georglyn Davidson, director of online learning at Bucks County Community College, where Mr. Gibbons studies, and where online enrollments are up 35 percent this summer over last year.

The vast majority of the nation’s 15 million college students — at least 79 percent — live off campus, and with gas prices above $4 a gallon, many are seeking to cut commuting costs by studying online. Colleges from Massachusetts and Florida to Texas to Oregon have reported significant online enrollment increases for summer sessions, with student numbers in some cases 50 percent or 100 percent higher than last year. Although some four-year institutions with large online programs — like the University of Massachusetts and Villanova — have experienced these increases, the greatest surges have been registered at two-year community colleges, where most students are commuters, many support families and few can absorb large new expenditures for fuel.

At Bristol Community College in Fall River, Mass., for instance, online enrollments were up 114 percent this summer over last, and half the students queried cited gas costs or some other transportation obstacle as a reason for signing up to study over the Internet, said April Bellafiore, an assistant dean there.

“Online classes filled up immediately,” Ms. Bellafiore said. “It blew my mind.”

Enrollments in online classes expanded rapidly early in this decade, but growth slowed in 2006 to less than 10 percent, according to statistics compiled last year by researchers at Babson College in Massachusetts. Some recent increases reported by college officials in interviews were much larger, which they attributed to the rising cost of gasoline. Pricing policies for online courses vary by campus, but most classes cost as much as, or more than, traditional ones.

At Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fla., online enrollment rose to 2,726 this summer from 2,190 last year, a 24.5 percent increase. “That is a dramatic increase we can only attribute to gas prices,” said Jim Drake, Brevard’s president.

Dr. Drake and officials at several other colleges expressed concern that mounting fuel costs could force some students to drop out of college altogether, especially since only a fraction of courses at most colleges are offered online. Dr. Drake has put Brevard on a four-day week to help employees and students save gas.

David Gray, chief executive of UMass Online, the distance education program at the University of Massachusetts, said that at an educators’ conference this week in San Francisco, officials from scores of universities discussed how the energy crisis could affect higher education. “There was broad agreement that gas price increases will be a source of continued growth in online enrollments,” Mr. Gray said.

Once an incidental expense, fuel for commuting to campus now costs some students half of what they pay for tuition, in some cases more. Sergey Sosnovsky, who is pursuing pre-engineering studies at Bucks County Community College, paid $240 a month for gas during the spring semester, while his full-time tuition cost about $500 a month, he said. Other students here and in half a dozen other states told similar stories.

Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Mo., which enrolls residents on both sides of the Arkansas-Missouri border, had 52 percent more students sign up for Internet-based courses this summer than last, said Witt Salley, the college’s director of online teaching and learning.

One student taking online coursework for the first time is Kameron Miller, a 30-year-old working mother who lives in Buffalo, Mo., 40 miles north of Springfield. Her commute to classes in her 1998 Chevy Venture during the spring semester cost her at least $200 a month for gas, Ms. Miller said. This summer, she is taking courses in health, humanities and world music — all online.

“I don’t feel I get as much out of an online class as a campus course,” Ms. Miller said. “But I couldn’t afford any other decision.”

Among the four-year institutions reporting increased online enrollment, UMass Online, which enrolls students at its five Massachusetts campuses and worldwide, experienced 46 percent growth this summer over last among students at the university’s Dartmouth, Mass., campus. At Villanova University in Pennsylvania, enrollment in online, graduate, engineering, nursing and business courses has increased more than 40 percent this summer, said Robert Stokes, an assistant vice president there.

Waiting lists for Web-based courses have lengthened at some institutions. At the University of Colorado, Denver, for instance, 361 students are on the waiting list for online courses for the fall term, compared to 233 last year on the same date, said Bob Tolsma, an assistant vice chancellor.

In Tennessee, the six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 26 technology centers overseen by the Tennessee Board of Regents enrolled 9,000 students for online courses this summer, compared with about 7,000 last summer, a 29 percent increase, said Robbie K. Melton, an associate vice chancellor.

“We had to train more faculty and provide more online courses because students just couldn’t afford to drive to our campuses,” Dr. Melton said.

Sandra Jobe, a 46-year-old bookkeeper who is studying for a master’s degree in education at Tennessee State University, said she reduced the number of trips she had to make each week to the university’s Nashville campus to two from four by enrolling in an online course.

“The campus experience is good; I wouldn’t diminish that,” Ms. Jobe said. “But when you’re penny-pinching, online is a good alternative.”

South Texas College, which has five campuses in Hidalgo and Starr Counties in the Rio Grande Valley, saw a 35 percent increase in online enrollments this summer over last, said William Serrata, a vice president. Other years have seen summer increases of 10 percent to 15 percent, he said. “This really speaks to students’ not wanting to travel due to the gas prices,” Mr. Serrata said.

Elvira Ozuna, who is 37 and studying for an associate’s degree in occupational therapy, was driving four times a week, 50 miles round trip from her home to South Texas College’s campus in McAllen. But this summer she enrolled in two online courses, eliminating that commute.

Ms. Ozuna said she found online work more difficult than classroom study. “But I saved on the gasoline,” she said.

Distance education is no silver bullet that can alone solve the challenges posed for higher education by rising gasoline prices, officials warned.

For one thing, many students, especially in rural areas, lack the high-speed Internet connections on which online courses depend.

“The infrastructure doesn’t exist to give all rural students clear online access,” said Stephen G. Katsinas, a professor at the University of Alabama. “Rural America is where the digital divide is most dramatic.”

Furthermore, most colleges still offer only a fraction of their courses over the Internet. Bucks County Community College, for instance, will offer 414 credit courses during the fall term. Only 103 of those will be offered online, and another 48 as hybrid courses, that is, partly online but with some campus visits required. So most students will still need to come to campus.

Mr. Gibbons, who is 20, works days and aspires to be a writer. He said his online course, “Introduction to the Novel,” had been a good experience, especially the Web-based discussions of Jane Austen’s novels. (He likes posting comments by e-mail better than speaking in class.) He said he still preferred on-campus study, “but with the price of gas jumping up, I’ll probably be taking more courses online now.”

GREEN is the NEW Red, White and Blue

AIM Program (AMAZING GRACE!)

LEONARD PITTS JR.

Separation can be saving grace

BY LEONARD PITTS JR. • McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • July 8, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Success breeds separation.

That's the thing no one tells you, the thing sometimes you don't realize, the thing that might make a child turn from his own potential. Success is like a pyramid, broad at the bottom, but narrow at the summit; the higher you go, the fewer people go with you.

It's a frightening thing for anybody, but especially frightening, perhaps, when you are young, gifted and black and coming of age in a culture where "everything" -- from the shows on television to the friends at your side -- says there is a certain way people like you are supposed to walk and talk and act and be.

The young men and women of Self Enhancement Inc. know all about it. Take Emanuel Ford. He is 18, a student at Grant High. Ford was born in Inglewood, Calif., in the territory of the Bloods street gang. His parents were both drug addicted.

Then his mother straightened herself up and moved him here, where he is flourishing. He looks back at the old places and, yes, he says, he feels that separation. "My cousins and all my family members down there are still doing the same thing, still smokin' weed, still bangin'. I feel like if I was still in that kind of position, I'd probably be shot, probably dead or in jail. By the grace of God I ... changed my life, got on the right road."

For 11 years, Ford has been a client of SEI (www.selfenhancement.org ), a network of support programs -- tutoring, college prep, sports, counseling, music and more -- serving 2,300 students a year between second grade and age 25. It is featured in this installment of "What Works" -- my series of columns on programs that are making a difference for black kids -- because it, well, works. Two-thirds of its students improve their grades and behavior; 98% of its high school freshmen graduate on time; 85% go to college.

SEI is a nonprofit founded in 1981 by Tony Hopson Sr., who had thought his future lay in the NBA until he found it in a field less glamorous but far more important. If you're looking for quick fixes in this field, he says, forget it.

"The problems in black America are based on decades of neglect. If you're going to start doing this, you've got to understand that it's a marathon and that the problem ain't goin' away tomorrow. You're talking about starting with kids young and staying with them over a very long period of time."

Solving the problems, he says, requires continuity, comprehensiveness, relationship building, and a realization that children do not exist in a vacuum. "At-risk kids go home to at-risk parents. We do not have a youth problem in America; we have an adult problem in America. So unless you also begin to follow kids home and impact what's happening in the home site, you can't arrest this problem."

Another key to SEI's success is that it gives achievers a peer group. It makes separation OK. As Ford puts it, "What SEI stands for is, it's OK to have good grades, it's OK to be a nerd or whatever, it's OK to be smart."

Which is a reminder black kids growing up in dire places probably need more than most. "I came from a home where my mother was addicted to drugs," says Sean Brannon, an SEI student, "and her husband was a drug dealer and he went to jail when I was around four or five and he's still in jail. And my mom, she was addicted to drugs so hard that she's now paralyzed and can't move from her chest down, just because drugs messed up her body. The house we lived in got shot up by a drive-by because of their drug activity. The car we were in got shot up by a drive-by. ...

The group of friends that I grew up with, two are in jail and one's dead. I thank God every day that I escaped that."

The moral of the story, then, is this: Yes, separation is frightening. But sometimes, separation is grace.

LEONARD PITTS JR. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.com .

By DESIGN: BEGIN with the END in MIND!

Creating the 21st-Century Classroom

Preparing today’s youth to succeed in the digital economy requires a new kind of teaching and learning. Skills such as global literacy, computer literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and innovation have become critical in today’s increasingly interconnected workforce and society--and technology is the catalyst for bringing these changes into the classroom.

In a 21st-century learning environment, all students are able to learn. Project-based learning allows students to acquire 21st-century skills in the context of real-world scenarios, and the integration of video and other media to support instruction links students with outside resources and enables teachers to address many learning styles at once. In fact, the 21st-century learning environment doesn’t just wait for teachable moments; it literally creates them at will.

At eSchool News, we’ve seen schools transforming through the use of technology to meet the needs of a new, tech-savvy generation of learners. Now, with the generous support of AVPartners, we’ve combed our archives to assemble our best content related to the creation of 21st-century classrooms. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to peruse these resources and learn how other educators are defining 21st-century learning as you strive to implement this vision of education in your own schools.

. --The Editors

eSchool News Articles

• 
  eSN Special Report: Visual Learning
  Wed, Jan 02, 2008 Primary Topic Channel: Video technologies
  These are special times for visual learning. Spurred by dramatic advances in digital technology, the use of video as an instructional tool is finally coming into its own as a mainstream feature of American education. [ Read More ]

• 
  Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
  Mon, Oct 15, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: Research
  Results of a new poll commissioned by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills shows the vast majority of U.S. voters believe students are ill-equipped to compete in the global learning environment, and that schools must incorporate 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, and computer and technology skills into the curriculum. But the upcoming presidential election, researchers say, presents a perfect opportunity to charter a new path to success for America's students. [ Read More ]

• 
  Public wants more tech in classrooms
  Wed, Aug 01, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  Americans recognize the importance of technology in reforming the nation's schools and making them relevant for the 21st century, a new survey suggests--but they disagree on how schools should impart key 21st-century skills to their students. [ Read More ]

• 
  21st-century school represents 'the will to change'
  Tue, May 01, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: Multimedia
  At the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering in Stamford, Connecticut, educators have turned a 40-year-old school building into a modern model for teaching and learning. And if it can be done here, school leaders say, it can be done anywhere. [ Read More ]

• Creating a '21st-century school' for learning and working together
  Sun, Oct 01, 2006 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  Like many school systems, Maryland's Charles County Public Schools had different tracks for high school students who were going on to college and those pursuing vocational training. This outdated model ultimately reduced the status of voc ed to a lower level than academic programs. James Richmond, our district superintendent, championed the idea of a 21st- century school that would bring vocational and academic students together in one facility. [ Read More ]

• 
  W.Va. focuses on 21st-century learning
  Thu, Apr 06, 2006 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  As educators nationwide consider ways to address the need for 21st-century learning, West Virginia appears to be ahead of the curve and could serve as a model for other states to follow. [ Read More ]

• 
  'Interactive teaching' engages learners
  Wed, May 11, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: Handheld technologies
  A wireless handheld technology similar to the remote control you use to control your television set is transforming large, impersonal college lecture courses into dynamic, interactive learning labs. Although initiated mostly in colleges, this style of instruction--dubbed "interactive teaching" by its proponents--has potential far beyond the lecture hall. [ Read More ]

• 
  Audio-visual technology a bright spot on college campuses
  Tue, Dec 06, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: Research,Multimedia
  At least half of the nation's higher-education classrooms will be equipped with digital projectors, control systems, audio or video conferencing equipment, or other audio-visual (AV) technology within the next five years, a new study projects. [ Read More ]

• 
  NC Gov. announces 21st Century Center
  Fri, Apr 22, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: School Administration ,21st Century skills
  Faced with the challenge of preparing today's students for success in anincreasingly global economy, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, April 21,announced the development of a first-of-its-kind Center for 21st CenturySkills. [ Read More ]

EMERGENCY averted, URGENCY CONTINUES!

DPS whacks $522 million from budget

BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • July 1, 2008

The Detroit Board of Education averted a possible shutdown of operations Monday night by approving a two-year budget that includes nearly $522 million in spending cuts to get the district out of deficit.

But many specifics of how the savings will be realized -- particularly in regard to union concessions and school closings -- still must be addressed by Detroit Public Schools officials.

"It's going to be critical for us to make some of these tough decisions," board vice president Joyce Hayes-Giles said Monday, noting the region and country are cutting back because of tough economic times.

Under the plan, approved 9-2, DPS would lay off about 818 teachers and 900 other workers, in addition to eliminating 142 vacant administrative jobs and cutting $81 million in non-salary spending.

District officials warned the board in the days and minutes leading up to the vote that without a budget, DPS would see state funding stop, have to shut down operations and possibly enter receivership until a plan was approved.

The district had not made any plans to deal with a shutdown, which could have at the least disrupted summer school classes that are in session today.

It was the board's third vote on a budget, and it still left some issues unsettled.

First, the plan calls for $70 million worth of savings from salary freezes and other concessions from unions. But it has held no formal talks and the unions have not been receptive to concessions in previous proposals.

And DPS also needs to close schools before the 2009-10 school year under the proposal. But the plan did not say which schools, or how many, would be closed. The last proposal called for closing Clinton, Detroit Open, Dossin, Guyton, Mason and Mark Twain elementaries and Northwest Early Childhood Center.

The total budget is fluid, and the board began tinkering with it just minutes after it was approved. The budget, as initially approved, would have laid off 28 of 257 social workers and cut four of 101 psychologist positions. But the board voted later in the night to retain all of those workers.

"When we look at the myriad of challenges our young people face in Detroit and the social ills, keep in mind this one department is being singled out," said board member Tyrone Winfrey, who introduced the motion to keep them. "That's my frustration."

Board attorney Floyd Allen said those employees could still face cuts in the future.

Mauritta Gardner, a supervisor for social workers, said they do not work over the summer, but a social worker still went to a middle school Monday to help with a student who had been sexually abused.

"We need 28 more, not 28 less social workers -- and that's not really enough," she said.

District officials expect to update projections on a monthly basis. The budget assumes that DPS will lose about 6,000 students, but will get about $100 in additional state aid per pupil. The state, however, projects an even greater loss of students, and the Legislature has not approved the K-12 budget yet. Any fluctuations in enrollment or state aid will affect spending and cuts.

The plan, as approved, projects deficits of $112.8 million for the fiscal year that ended Monday and $104.7 million for 2008-09 before getting out of the red in 2009-10 with a $2.6-million surplus.

Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY at 313-223-4537.