The HUNTER is RELENTLESS!

Bobb making sure DPS teachers get to teach

Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb has ordered a full audit of the district’s 5,200 teachers and how they spend their time to ensure that all are teach ing students.

The action is in re sponse to complaints that principals are as signing teachers admin istrative duties in lieu of teaching classes, some thing a district with class sizes as large as 50 students cannot afford.

The practice violates district policy, and combined with the number of teachers who teach only special educa tion, means the district has only about 3,900 teachers to teach more than 75,000 students — and that hundreds of students sit in overcrowded class rooms. 


Budget may be crunching teachers’ time

Let’s do the math: With 87,000 students and 5,200 teachers, the aver age class size in the Detroit Public Schools should be a very manageable 17 kids per room. Right?

Not even close.

Subtract about 1,300 teach ers and resource specialists who teach the nearly 14% of DPS students in special-educa tion classes.

Then subtract scores more teachers who handle only two or three classes per day — or maybe none at all — instead of their full complement of five, because they also are part time administrators for school principals.

Add in a budget crisis that prevents the district from hiring new teachers, and you wind up with some classes of up to 50 students and a district that has very little chance of being able to make its work force meet student needs. 

What makes the mission harder

As emergency financial manager Robert Bobb contin ues to pare down the district’s deficit, right-size its workforce and repair decades of damage done by more corruption and crises than any one district should face, the need to bal ance teacher specialties with student needs is yet one more daunting task. The current classroom workforce is not as diverse as DPS students deserve.

“There is no leeway to keep teachers for academic reasons because it (retention) is based on seniority,” said Patrick Falcuson, financial analyst and retirement counselor for the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

The majority of Detroit teachers are between ages 45-54. (At least 168 are over 65; 17 are over 75, and two are over 85. Only 111 are under age 25.) The average pay is $67,000, and 92% are at top scale. The district cannot af ford new teachers.

Bobb’s mission to give kids what they need is made harder for two reasons: 25% of the district’s teachers teach or work with the more than 12,000 DPS students in spe­cial- education classes and aren’t available for regular classrooms, and some princi pals use teachers for adminis trative duties that used to be done by assistants. “We have an inordinate amount of special-education teachers because we have an inordinate amount of special education classrooms,” said Detroit Federation of Teach ers President Keith Johnson.

Bobb also has said Detroit doesn’t classify students as needing special education until fifth or sixth grade, much later than other districts do. But like other districts, he said, Detroit pushes black boys into special education because of behavioral problems that sometimes result from them not being able to read.

Bobb faces an additional— and unusual — problem as he figures out how best to use teachers: Some aren’t teach ing.

Teachers are supposed to teach five classes periods, but often, for whatever reason, “the principal decides he needs help,” said Falcuson.

The years-long practice violates district policy, and became worse after Bobb cut administrators to reduce the deficit. Union officials fear that it is now so widespread that it may be impossible to end.

“There would be no way of knowing (where teachers are),” Falcuson said. “It’s un der the table. On paper, often times, administrators have them (teachers) down as teaching five classes when they’re not.” 

Getting to the truth of the matter

Johnson said he has com plained to Bobb about the misuse of teachers’ time for everything from computeriz ing student attendance re cords to doing budgets, but got no response. Bobb, through a spokesman, said Monday that he has ordered a full audit of teachers’ time.

“Given the dire financial situation the district is in, we cannot afford for any to not be in front of students on a daily basis,” said Steve Wasko, Bobb’s spokesman. He added that Bobb plans to make sure the audit is accurate.

Johnson said he has heard it before.

“I told him about this in a meeting at the beginning of the year,” he said. “How can you do an audit if someone gives you false paperwork?”

Johnson said the only way to solve the problem is to do surprise school visits.

I say this problem is yet one more embarrassing example of adults failing children in a city that should know better.

Let’s hope the audit works.

If not, there is one other way Bobb can find out who’s teach ing: He can ask students. 



Teachers’ math anxiety could be influencing young girls, study says

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON — Little girls may learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers.

Despite gains in recent years, women still trail men in some areas of math achieve ment, and the question of why has provoked controversy.

Now, a study of first- and second-graders suggests what may be part of the an swer: Female elementary school teachers concerned about their own math skills could be passing that concern along to the little girls they teach.

Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex, and having a female teacher who is anxious about math may re inforce the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls, explained Sian Beilock, an associate professor in psy chology at the University of Chicago.

Beilock and colleagues studied 52 boys and 65 girls in classes taught by 17 teachers. Ninety percent of U.S. ele mentary school teachers are women, as were all of those in the study.

Student math ability was not related to teacher math anxiety at the start of the school year, the researchers report in today’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But by the end of the year, the more anxious teachers were about their own math skills, the more likely their female stu dents were to agree that “boys are good at math, and girls are good at reading.”

Teacher math anxiety was measured on a 25-question test about situations that made them anxious, such as reading a cash register re ceipt or studying for a math test.

A separate test checked the math skills of the teach ers, who worked in a large Midwestern school district.

Mike Flanagan on RTTT Application (The Bottom Line)

CHAMPS for CHILDREN (Reading Corps Renaissance) IN it To WIN it!

2,500 TURN OUT FOR DPS READING CORPS

RALLY POWERS UP VOLUNTEERS

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

 
There were raucous cheers. There were rousing speech es. Children sang and a string ensemble played. But this was no ordinary pep rally in the gymnasium at Renaissance High School on Saturday, be cause instead of cheering a sports team to victory, these adults were cheering to help kids learn to read.

In what may be one of the largest ef forts of its kind, Detroit Public Schools officially kicked off its Reading Corps program, which in a little more than a month has signed up 3,639 people from across metro Detroit — people who’ve committed to give 434,187 hours of their time over five years to tutor Detroit students.

About 2,500 of them came to a rally and training session at Renaissance, a cheerful and driven bunch that over flowed parking lots, forcing many to take shuttle buses from nearby schools. Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager for DPS, called them champions for children and said that they will help the district meet its 2015 goal of every student reading at grade level or above by third grade.

There are other reading mentor pro grams around the country, said Rich ard Long, a director at the Internation al Reading Association, a group based in Newark, Del., adding that in the case of DPS, “the size and the quickness … is very impressive.” 


Reading tutors get fired up as they begin their training 

What to do: Make friends with child, talk about school, read a story, ask questions

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

Robert Bobb is leading by example. He stood before thousands of volunteers who have signed up to help tutor Detroit students and said he has signed up to tutor at Jamieson Elementary School. And he made an admission.

“Not much intimidates me … but I am totally intimidated,” the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools said about reading through the stack of materials that volunteers received.

Although student scores on a na tional exam prompted the creation of the Reading Corps volunteer pro gram, Bobb told the crowd that showed up for Saturday’s kickoff that DPS also has discovered, through a survey of principals, that 52% of stu dents in the district are not reading at grade level.

After a rally, the nearly 2,500 vol unteers broke into small groups for an orientation aimed at helping them be effective tutors for prekindergar ten students. Included was a 10-page handout that breaks down what the tutors are supposed to do each time they meet with their students, includ ing descriptions of various tasks. A separate 50-page handout shows them how to help the students with learning the alphabet.

“We want them to walk away with a feeling this is something they can do,” said Barbara Leatherwood-Peteet, a Reading Recovery teacher who helped lead one of the training ses sions.

The volunteers were given tips on how to read to children, how to talk to them about the text they read and ask questions about it. Most important, they were given instructions on how to start their mentor relationship: In the first five minutes of the first ses sion, for instance, the volunteer should share a brief story about his or her experience in school, ask the child about his or her school experiences and read “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Seeing such a large group come out, Leatherwood-Peteet said, “was inspiring. I’m hoping their interest will continue to grow.”

Eunice Rose of Southfield signed up to volunteer because “I’m sick of these children not knowing how to read. It’s very sad.”

She said it’s important, though, not to blame teachers.

“If they don’t have books in their homes, if they’re not read to from the time they’re infants, then teachers have a horrible time getting them to learn to read. So obviously the teach ers need help. And that’s what we’re here for.”

Last week, DPS announced that more than 20 businesses and organi zations had signed on, offering a com bined total of more than 10,000 volun teer hours from their employees and members. Those groups will get on site training on yet-to-be determined dates.

Volunteers were entertained Sat urday by student groups. They also heard from speakers including Free Press Editor and Publisher Paul An ger; Yvette Bing, Mayor Dave Bing’s wife, and Detroit City Council Presi dent Charles Pugh.

Pugh told the crowd that it doesn’t matter how many new buildings are erected in the city, nor how many businesses are attracted to the city if the school district doesn’t improve.

“It will not matter if our children do not learn the way they deserve to learn,” Pugh said.

“You mean hope to a lot of chil dren,” he told the volunteers.

Bobb said he’s optimistic that with the help of the volunteers, the district can and will change.

“We can win the battle for our chil dren,” Bobb said. “Failure is not an option.” 

Bobb rallies volunteers: ‘We can win the battle for our children’

Here’s some of what Robert Bobb said at Saturday’s Reading Corps rally. 

CHAMPS:  “This program and today’s event is a historic gathering of champions for children.

And, Detroit, let me tell you, we need thou sands of champions for children.”  

FROM ALL OVER:  “This army of volunteers includes not only more than 1,100 Detroit residents, but

■  215 from Southfield,

■  127 from Royal Oak,

■  120 from Farmington Hills

■  and 105 from West Bloomfield.

“Our champions come from Dearborn and Ferndale and Beverly Hills and Harper Woods, and from Romulus and Ypsilanti and Brighton and Saline.

“In fact, our volunteers come from 138 different municipalities and jurisdictions.

“Those signing up even include two from Windsor, one from Gladwin, one from Chicago and one from Cape Coral, Fla.

“You are among the 3,639 volunteers repre senting  approximately 434,187 hours of volun teer time commitment.” 

CHANGE AGENTS:  “There are two reasons one can choose to take on a cause and volunteer: First, to give back to the community, and, second, because you want to change the world. I believe that you are here, probably for some measure of both reasons, but primarily because you want to change the world.

“Our goal is that by 2015, every child in the Detroit Public Schools will be reading at grade level or above by third grade. Our students need you to help us make that happen. … It can be done. It must be done. I believe togeth er we can make that happen for every child.”  

GIFT OF READING:  “There can be no greater movement we can create, nor greater gift we can give a child than the ability to read.

“The children are our present and future leaders. Our community, we, depend upon them. We must equip them properly for 21st-  Century learning so that our kids can lead lives of prosperity, promise and productivity. “We can make that 2015 goal. We can win the battle for our children. Failure is not an option. When this district’s leaders fail, when our schools fail, when our systems fail, our children fail. Today, we establish that here in Detroit, that failing our children is not an option.” 

CLOSING MINUTE: “Finally, I would like to share with you the words to a poem by an unknown author, entitled ‘Wasting Time’: 

"I have only just a minute, 

Only 60 seconds in it, 

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it, 

Didn’t seek it, Didn’t choose it, 

But it is up to me to use it, 

I must suffer if I lose it, 

Give account if I abuse it, 

Just a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it.”

(BAMN) A REAL Urgent Emergency! (Robert Bobb Departure Date)

Bobb has a deadline for DPS success

Robert Bobb has been meeting nonstop with community groups, parents, legislators and the media to explain how much work is needed to fix the Detroit Public Schools. I’ve heard him make his case.

But Thursday night, ad dressing the Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Black Jour nalists, Bobb said something I hadn’t heard.

“When I leave, I want to leave the school district with five plans,” he said, outlining a master plan for learning and teaching, as well as plans to ensure safety and security; parental and community involvement; improved aca demics and curriculum, and that DPS facilities meet the needs of students and staff, not contractors.

It was those first three words that stopped me: “When I leave. …” Bobb hasn’t talked much about that.

“My deadline is the end of my contract,” the DPS emergency financial manager confirmed Friday morning in a follow-up conversation.

“That’s March 2011. It’s a lot of work, and much of it we’ve begun. But it means that we have to escalate and go faster than we’ve been going before. We have a defined time line. That’s when my contract ends. I’m  being realistic.” 

Problems and solutions

It is possible that Bobb’s contract could get extended. A Republican governor would be even more likely than a Democrat to keep him on the job.

But that isn’t a sure thing. The only sure things are the problems and solutions — and what children need.

Bobb talked about them Thursday:

■ Half of DPS students grad uate from high school com pared with 80% of students nationally. Before he leaves, Bobb wants DPS to match the national average.

■ Few DPS schools have advanced placement classes. Before he leaves, Bobb wants to create a way for every student in the district to take at least one AP class — even if they have to take them online.

■ Ten percent of the dis trict’s students, or 8,761 children, are overage for their grade and have too few credits to graduate on time; 2,616 of them are ninth-grad ers who weren’t ready for high school and were not promoted. At Mumford High, for instance, that pop ulation is nearly 500, or a quarter of the students in the school.

“Those kids will never graduate from that high school unless we do some thing,” Bobb said. “We can not turn these kids back to the streets.”

His team is working on a plan to place those students in special classes to ensure that they catch up and get their diplomas. That’s the difference between them learning to take care of themselves and us taking care of — uh, oh. If Bobb creates those special classes, is that an academic decision? Will the school board sue?

Please. It took years for those kids to get behind.

And nobody cared.

“If we follow Malcolm X,” Bobb said, “we have to edu cate them ‘by any means necessary.’ We won’t get 100%, but by God, we have to try. It’s so easy to give up on them.” 

Joy and genius

Oh, there’s one other thing that Bobb pointed out to journalists Thursday night.

In the midst of great chal lenges, there is great joy and there is sheer genius among DPS students. At a recent career day, Bobb said he met some routine miracles.

“There was a kid with seven acceptance letters to college,” he said. “One lady with her mom was invited to study photography and jour nalism in London.”

“There are some kids tonight who may not have a meal,” he said. “They may come to school with their uniforms torn and tattered.

But their minds are brilliant. These kids’ minds are so powerful that they will learn under a rock. There are some remarkable children in the Detroit Public Schools.

“Yesterday at the University of Michigan, we had sixth-graders from three of our schools who have been working with a U of M science professor for the last three years. It brings tears to your eyes to see these kids explain the ecology of the Detroit River. I didn’t know that an eagle flew at a hundred miles an hour.”

And many of us in this community had lost hope that this school district could be saved. Now that we can see it, feel it, believe it, we better fight for it.

Or we’ll be right back where we were.

The Chef, the Recipe AND some good ole fashioned Louisiana Heat! (GAME-ON)

Debate over DPS control turns testy

By NIRAJ WARIKOO

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER 

LANSING — The intense debate over who should run Detroit Public Schools exploded into accusations of racism and outside influence as Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb pressed state legislators Thursday to give him more control over the beleaguered district.

It was Bobb’s second pitch for more power since national test re sults released last month showed the school system as having the worst scores in the country. He said the district is in dire need of financial reform and academic changes.

“The system has failed,” he testi fied in Lansing. “We owe every kid … an apology.”

Some critics at the Lansing hearing said Bobb is playing into racism by hyping up the poor test results and trying to take away Detroit control of the district.

But Bobb bristled at the idea and noted that he, like the vast majority of the district’s students, is black. 

Curriculum is new DPS battle 

Critics say manager is grabbing power


By NIRAJ WARIKOO

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER 

LANSING — The growing academic emergency in De troit Public Schools is a “call for all of us to act,” Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb said at a public hearing in Lansing before the House Edu cation Committee on Thursday.

Seeking control of academ i cs, Bobb slammed the dis trict’s previous administra tions for “a culture that failed to take its fiduciary responsi bilities serious ly.”

“Who’s to blame?” he asked at one point. “Not the kids … the adults who have maintained a system that has overwhelmingly failed.”

Noting the tension between Bobb, the board and some in the public, legislators urged Bobb and his team to do a bet ter job at communicating to people in the district.

But Bobb said his team is constantly communicating its message to all involved groups. And he stressed the urgency of reform: “We can’t let any day go by.”

“There is an academic emergency,” he said after the contentious hearing.

Bobb’s critics attacked him and his supporters for trying to bring in outsiders to rule ov er Detroit children.

One parent, Christopher White, said Bobb and others used the low test scores re leased last month as a way to bash Detroiters and increase their power.

White, who is African American, said racism is play ing a role in the push to strip Detroiters of control over the district.

Thursday’s hearing was packed with more than 50 De troit parents, school board members and others interest ed in the discussion over who should control the largest school district in the state. Bobb was tasked with focusing on finances, but he said that in order to change that, he has to be able to look at other parts of the district — such as academ ic policies.

He compared his situation to that of a General Motors CEO who has to take his com pany out of bankruptcy with out being able to alter the products. Opponents worried about giving him too much power.

“Why would you turn over our district to one person?” shouted Sandra Hines of the Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS.

During Bobb’s testimony, Hines frequently interrupted, prompting state Rep. Tim Mel ton, D-Auburn Hills, chairman of the committee, to ask for quiet several times.

Bobb laid out his case for improving the district and of fered a five-point plan.

“We have to set high standards,” he said. “It’s not about Robert Bobb.” 


Bobb promises new academic plan for Detroit schools

By CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER 

While school officials, parents and residents debated in Lansing on Thursday over who should make academic decisions in Detroit Public Schools, experts across the country were vetting an education plan devised to help city students reach lofty goals by 2015.

Robert Bobb, the emergen cy financial manager for the school district, said the academic plan he expects to unveil in 30 days aims to prepare stu dents to reach or exceed national averages relating to the ACT test, dropout rate, gradu ation and third-grade reading scores.

Next week, DPS officials are to take questions from those reviewing the goals, making sure they are doable and align with national standards.

The plan would be supported by the $80 million in Race to the Top funding that the district applied for.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the district’s chief academic and accountability auditor, said the major difference between this plan and one offered by the school board is specificity as well as mechanisms to tie teachers’ and principals’ evaluations to student performance and test scores.

Bobb’s draft plan calls for:

■ Three math and reading standardized tests a year in ad dition to the MEAP.

■ Pre-algebra in sixth grade, al gebra by eighth grade.

■ Requiring every high school student to take an advanced

placement class.

■ Creating learning villages in schools, allowing teachers con stant opportunities for devel opment and training.

Superintendent Teresa Gueyser said the plan the board approved last summer is “learner focused.” It calls for:

■ Individualized learning plans.

■ A longer school day.

■ Twice-yearly professional development for teachers.

Bobb and the school board are at odds over academic con trol, and he indicated he will not pay for their plan. 

Race to the Top (Closer)

Michigan shirks 

Efforts to derail application for federal school stimulus cash reflect the state’s dysfunction

Michigan’s dysfunction is perfectly embodied in the ridiculous struggle to put together an application for $400 million in fed eral education funds — its stubborn refusal to embrace reform as a path out of its misery, its fealty to labor at the expense of sound policy, and its irrational fear of change.

The Race to the Top application, due Tues day, should have been signed, sealed and on its way to delivery to the White House by now. The program is President Barack Obama’s effort to improve academic performance, largely by improving the quality of classroom instruction.

To be eligible, Michigan had to agree to a series of measures to better assess the job performance of teachers, hold them account able for how well students learn and provide innovative alternatives to traditional public schooling.

As you can imagine, the Michigan Education Associ ation, the state’s largest teacher and school employee union, wanted no part of these reforms.

Even with the support of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and key legislative leaders, the Race to the Top bill faced an uphill fight in the Legislature before a watered-down version was finally adopted the weekend before Christmas.

Having lost in Lansing, MEA President Iris Salters and her staff took the fight to local districts, urging school boards and local unions not to sign on to the application. Eight Oakland County districts dropped out of the program, saying the benefits weren’t worth subjecting teachers to the more rigorous accountability.

What those districts ignore is that half the federal money will go to statewide programs, freeing up cash in the general School Aid Fund and mitigating the per-pupil cuts need ed to balance the state budget. All districts will benefit.

Now there are even defections on the State Board of Education, led by board President Kathleen Straus, the MEA’s de facto repre sentative on that body. If state Superintendent of Public Instruc tion Mike Flanagan is able to get a competitive package in the mail on Tuesday, it will be a miracle.

Michigan is again shooting itself in the foot. The reforms passed by the Legislature are in place and will be put into effect even if the Race to the Top funds don’t come.

Additional changes tied to Race to the Top will likely be included in the rewrite of the federal No Child Left Behind law, particularly now that the American Federation of Teachers has signed off on the reforms.

The change is coming. Michigan might as well get the money.

Everyone should be mindful of the steep budget cliff the state faces in 2011, when the federal stimulus dollars run out. School dis tricts face cutting an additional $400 to $500 per pupil because of declining state aid pay ments.

It’s insane not to aggressively pursue the aptly named Race to the Top dollars. This is a race — a race tomake education in this coun try the best in the world. Michigan, a state with such a high level of need, should be sprinting at the head of the pack instead of shirking along at the rear.

Hopefully, all parties with a stake in this application will wake up Monday morning and do whatever it takes to give Flanagan the makings of a great application.


Michigan 

Race for more stimulus cash on to next step

Kathleen Straus, presi dent of the State Board of Education, signed on Saturday Michigan’s application to receive up to $400 million in additional federal stimulus funds.

Her sig nature put the final stamp on the state’s quest to be selected by the U.S. Department of Education to receive the money through Race to the Top, a program that will award, on a compet itive basis, $4.35 billion to states to support school reform. Straus’ signature, along with those of Gov.

Jennifer Granholm and state schools Superin tendent Mike Flanagan, was required on the ap plication.

The deadline to submit the application is Tues day. Straus had declined to sign the application, saying she wanted time to read the full application, which details Michigan’s plans for spending the money. Only a summary of the plan was available at the time. Straus re ceived the application Friday.

Not to be Missed!

PBS Special: "The ART of War!" Sunday evening 8:00PM

RIGHT Headline (needs rewrite)

DPS picks Ward to be new AD 

By MICK Mc CABE

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER 

Detroit Public Schools is expected to name Alvin Ward its director of athletics and health and physical education early next week.

Ward will replace Lafay ette Evans, who retired in September.

Ward was a highly respect ed basketball coach at Detroit King for 17 years before enter ing school ad ministration. In six years at De troit Western, he was dean of students, assis tant principal and interim principal before serving as prin cipal at Finney the previous nine years.

He is in his first year as principal at Kettering.

In October, DPS named former NBA star and Detroit Northern grad Derrick Cole man commissioner of PSL athletics. His duties were be lieved to be more along the lines of fund-raising than an overseer of the league’s day to- day operations, which will be Ward’s responsibilities.

It’s unclear whether Coleman will remain with the DPS.

TROUBLED WATERS: NOT SO FAST THERE, Partner! (And do these folks NOT read the newspapers, watch the news, etc?)

Districts shun federal money 

Leaders say Race to the Top goal unclear

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER 

Some metro-area school leaders are refusing to sign agreements that would assure they could share in up to $400 million in federal stimulus funds — money that will be awarded to states with innovative plans to reform schools.

It is unclear whether the lack of signatures will affect the state’s application for the grant from the Race to the Top program. Federal officials have said it is imperative tohave support from local dis tricts — school boards, admin istrators and union officials. But a consistent concern school leaders raise is the lack of clarity in what Michigan’s plan will include. Districts had to submit the agreements by the close of business Friday, before the Michigan Depart ment of Education posted a fi nal summary of its plan..

And for many school officials opting not to sign, the uncertainty isn’t worth the little money they would receive. Birmingham Public Schools, for instance, stood to receive only $60,000. The amount depends on how many low-income students a district educates.

“They didn’t feel it would be responsible to sign something that lacked clarity. It committed us to adopt a plan that isn’t yet finalized,” said district spokeswoman Marcia Wilkinson.

School boards in Bloomfield Hills, Eastpointe, Lake Orion, Novi, Richmond, South Lyon and Walled Lake also opted not to sign. The board in Berkley took no action.

Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the education department, said the refusal to sign “is troubling” at a time when “education is paramount and every penny counts.”

In Bloomfield Hills Schools, where the Board of Education decided Thursday night not to sign the agreement, there were broader issues than the lack of clarity. In a letter sent to parents and staff, Superintendent Steven Gaynor said he’s concerned that the Race to the Top grant ties teacher evaluations to student achievement.

Gaynor said there is no evidence that linking the two is effective, and he said he’s concerned that teachers fearful for their jobs will be forced to teach to the state exams “to the exclusion of all other worth while instruction now going on in Bloomfield Hills Schools.”

But Ellis responded that “it no longer matters” now that the governor has signed legislation that requires districts to use student achievement growth to evaluate teachers.

“It’s now state law,” she said. 

RACE to the FUDGE-FACTORS!

Extra school funds in jeopardy? 

Some local union leaders say they won’t support state’s proposal

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER 

Michigan’s quest to receive up to $400 million in federal education aid could be jeopar dized because some local union leaders are refusing to support the state’s plans.

The Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-Mich igan issued a letter this week urging their local leaders not to sign a memoranda of un derstanding that is necessary for districts to receive the money.

They say union leaders are being asked to sign an agree ment for a plan they haven’t seen, and they say draft ver sions of the plan in some cases includes controversial issues that were not part of bills Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed Monday to improve public schools.

Among the items at issue: the MEA says the state is in cluding a proposed new li censing system for teachers and a formula that would be used to determine how stu dent academic growth would be factored into a teacher’s evaluation, something the MEA says the Legislature in tended to leave up to local dis tricts to decide.

Their refusal could leave the state without the neces sary union buy-in to compete for $4.3 billion available through the federal Race to the Top, a stimulus-funded program designed to spur in novation in schools.

Michigan is estimated to receive between $200 million and $400 million.

But Granholm may have brokered a tentative compro mise during a meeting she held Tuesday afternoon with state Superintendent Mike Flanagan and representatives of the two state unions.

Union leaders received an e-mail from the MEA after the meeting that expressed opti mism that they would have more time to view the state’s final application before hav­ing to sign the agreement.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd was not specific, but said she expected a positive outcome.

For now, though, union leaders like Ted Peters, presi dent of the Southfield Educa tion Association, are refusing to sign.

“There are too many unex plained items out there right now,” Peters said.

States must submit appli cations by mid-January, but the Michigan Department of Education has set a Thursday deadline for local school dis tricts to submit paperwork of support.

Flanagan added a wrinkle Tuesday saying districts can submit agreements without the union signature.