Open Letter to Governor Snyder and the Michigan Legislature

 

November 30, 2012

An Open Letter to Governor Snyder and the Michigan Legislature

To meet the challenges of the 21^st Century, Michigan must be a world leader in growing and retaining talent.  Accomplishing that goal requires a world-class education system, one that is well-coordinated and aligned with the needs of employers, families and students.

As superintendents of school districts serving several hundred thousand students, we must express our concerns at the reform agenda currently under consideration in the Legislature today, and in concepts being proposed for the next session.

Michigan needs a reform strategy that recognizes and celebrates our strengths, exposes our weaknesses, and addresses the gaps in a way that does not alienate, erode or destabilize structures that are working.  In short, we need a reform strategy that is efficient, effective and economical.  We cannot leave the reform strategy to chance, as our resources are far too scarce to squander on untested and unproven tactics.

The legislation proposed to codify the Education Achievement Authority (HB6004 and SB1358) is a prime example of untested and unproven reform. While we all hope the Education Achievement Authority is wildly successful in improving the lives of students in the 15 schools it operates, it has a track record of fewer than three months.  It also has an achievement strategy severely questioned in the previous district of Chancellor Covington, where his instructional methodologies were abandoned when the district lost accreditation following his departure.

In addition, are we concerned at the proposals forwarded by the Oxford Foundation for school funding and the accompanying policy legislation, HB5923.  These proposals are founded in school choice and make no mention of quality or demand a track record of success.  If school choice were the answer, Michigan would lead the nation in achievement because it has been a leader in choice for nearly two decades. 

Instead, the choices we have created through market-based reform have produced cookie-cutter public school academies serving middle class students while creating a permanent underclass in our inner cities.  Why? We believe that families struggling to maintain a roof over their head and food on their table simply do not have the resources to shop around for educational opportunity.  What they need is an equitably funded neighborhood school with the local control necessary to recognize and fulfill the specific needs of the population it serves.

 

We cannot leave reform and improvement to chance.  None of our state’s leading manufacturers would publish their specifications and accept any supplier with no track record of achievement.  They demand more of their supply chain, and so must we, as our students are the future for our employers and our economy.

Research-tested reform tells us we need to start early with preschool education.  Students need more time on task, they need extended day learning opportunities to master core competencies and they need exposure to the arts, music and cultural enrichment activities.

Our existing schools are funded at 2005-06 levels and have eliminated many of the programs students need.  The answer to that problem isn’t to invite any for-profit organization to open a competing school next door, nor is it to eliminate local control by creating a statewide school system operated from Detroit with no elected board and no accountability to the neighborhoods they serve.

Coherent reform would involve the business community and higher education, not to point fingers at K-12 districts for their failures, but to work together to identify the gaps in student preparation, to better understand the needs of a rapidly changing job market, and to recommend structural reforms that will fill those gaps.  Throwing state coffers open to anyone who would like to open a school will not accomplish those goals.

We are the educational leaders your communities hired to lead their education system.  Improving education is our passion and our life’s work.  We cannot endorse the reforms now before the legislature, but we are willing to work together to achieve a coordinated, coherent and comprehensive educational system from preschool through college.  Our children, our economy and our state deserve nothing less.

On behalf of children in our Region, the following school leaders are issuing this collaborative message on behalf of each of our respective school districts:

 

Mark R. Dobias Allegan Area ESA   Kevin Harness Allegan Public Schools   Daniel Jonker Allendale Public Schools     Stiles X. Simmons Baldwin Community Schools   Sara Shriver Belding Area Schools   Tim Haist Big Rapids Public Schools   Daniel L. Takens Byron Center Public Schools   Randy Rodriguez Caledonia Community Schools   Ronald McDermed Cedar Springs Public Schools   Ethan Ebenstein Comstock Park Public Schools   Ron Veldman Coopersville Area Public Schools   Paul Blacken Delton Kellogg Schools   Sara M. Shubel, Ph.D East Grand Rapids Public Schools   Dirk Weeldreyer Fennville Public Schools   Dan Behm Forest Hills Public Schools   Jim Hieftje Fremont Public Schools   Bob Szymoniak Fruitport Community Schools   David Britten Godfrey-Lee Public Schools   William L. Fetterhoff Godwin Heights Public Schools   Keith Konarska Grand Haven Area Public Schools   Ron Caniff Grandville Public Schools   Jonathan M. Whan Grant Public Schools   Peter Haines Greenville Public Schools   David Tebo Hamilton Community Schools   Jason J. Kennedy Holton Public Schools   Chris J. Stephens Hopkins Public Schools   Nick Ceglarek Hudsonville Public Schools   Robert Kjolhede Ionia County ISD   Thomas M. TenBrink Jension Public Schools   Gregory D. Warsen Kelloggsville Public Schools   Gerald Hopkins Kenowa Hills Public Schools   Scott Palczewski Kentwood Public Schools   Kyle Hamlin Lakeview Community Schools

Michael O'Mara Lakewood Public Schools   Paul Shoup Mason County Eastern Public Schools   Curt Finch Mecosta-Osceola ISD     Dave Peden Mona Shores Public Schools   Shelly Millis Montabella Community Schools   Nathan Robrahn Montague Area Public Schools   Dr. Scott M. Koenigsknecht Montcalm Area ISD   Jon Felske Muskegon Public Schools   Dr. Lori Tubbergen Clark Newaygo County Regional ESA   Dr. Peggy A. Mathis Newaygo Public Schools   Dr. Curtiss Babcock North Muskegon Public Schools   Michael F. Paskewicz Northview Public Schools   Tom Livezey Oakridge Public Schools   Patricia Walstra Orchard View Schools   Dennis Patzer Otsego Public Schools   Karen McPhee Ottawa Area ISD   Susan Wakefield Plainwell Community Schools   John B. VanLoon Ravenna Public Schools   Steven Westhoff Reed City Area Public Schools   Steve Edwards Reeths-Puffer Schools   Michael S Shibler, Ph. D. Rockford Public Schools   Rolfe Timmerman Saugatuck Public Schools   Kent Swinson Sparta Area Schools   Dennis Furton Spring Lake Public Schools   Tom Enslen Thornapple Kellogg Schools   Allen Cumings Tri County Area Schools   Jeff Beal Vestaburg Community Schools   Michael Sweet Walkerville Public Schools   Norman L. Taylor Wayland Union Schools   Randall Howes West Shore Educational School District   Barry S. Seabrook White Cloud Public Schools   Jerry McDowell Whitehall District Schools   Dr. Thomas G. Reeder Wyoming Public Schools

 

Rich Satterlee   Alba Public Schools	Thomas K. Martin     West Ottawa Public Schools
Kevin Konarska  Kent ISD	Ron Koehler   Kent ISD
Greg Pratt   Lowell Public Schools