Finally, some truth in the Detroit News!
Too bad MEA had to put it there.
MEA Government Affairs Director Ed Sarpolus' rebuttal to the News' constant and baseless attacks on the MEA and its members ran in the paper today. In particular, Sarpolus' comments were focused on the News' unfounded criticism of MEA's positions on the federal Race To The Top program.
It's disappointing to read The News' claims that the Michigan Education Association is standing in the way of Michigan receiving "Race to the Top" funds from the federal government ("School sabotage: Michigan Education Association works to keep reforms, federal money at bay while school districts struggle," Nov. 8). Nothing could be further from the truth.
Race to the Top funding will go to a handful of states that enact certain "reforms" being pushed by the federal government. Even by enacting these questionable changes, there is no guarantee that Michigan will receive additional funding.
Michigan can't afford to accept a deal that's too good to be true. The MEA will support reforms that make our state competitive for Race to the Top -- and ensure that our students have a greater chance at success. We're proud to be discussing these issues with state leaders, as we did on Nov. 12 with the House Education Committee.
At that hearing, State Superintendent Mike Flanagan, whom the media like to pit against MEA, said he agrees with us that we must "walk carefully" on certain reforms.
It's important to note that the News chose to cut the following paragraph at this point -- yet another fact they don't want out there:
But agreement doesn't sell newspapers, so these facts continue to go unreported. Similarly ignored is the fact that school employees are making significant salary and health insurance sacrifices to help preserve quality education -- saving almost $1 billion since 2006.
On with the column as the News' editors chose to run it...
The MEA is thrilled at the prospect of more federal funding -- we're just asking a simple question: Whether or not Michigan gets these dollars, will these reforms help students learn?
Does it help students to lower standards for teachers through fast-track certification programs when graduates from our great teacher prep colleges are leaving Michigan to find jobs?
Will students achieve more if we blindly expand charter schools without enacting accountability and transparency measures to prove that charters actually outperform other public schools?
We encourage the News to stop pitting the MEA against our state's leaders and students in an attempt to create controversy.
Ed Sarpolus
Director of Government Affairs, Michigan Education Association, East Lansing
The fact is, MEA and our members care about the quality of public education and the education our students receive. That's why we ask the questions we do -- to ensure that reforms like this actually help students learn and teachers teach.
Comments
This is scary stuff
Sure it'd be great if our schools could get some of that federal money, but based on this article in the MI Messenger, it seems like our legislators in Lansing have killed our chances. Because of the political posturing and games in Lansing, the K-12 budget has been so severely cut that it seems we've effectively shot ourselves in the foot when it comes to the federal funding.
From the MI Messenger: "Another fundamental obstacle Michigan will have to overcome if it can successfully compete for the federal cash will be addressing the recent K-12 educational foundation allowance grants. (U.S. Sec. of Education Arne) Duncan made it clear in talking with reporters Thursday that states are all facing difficult budget issues, the question — and the evaluation — will come down to how state’s prioritize funding in tight budget times.
“Did those cuts help students in the classroom, or did they benefit adults?” Duncan said would be a major evaluation tool in this process.
Many would argue that Michigan’s K-12 foundation allowance grant cuts were done for political expediency, not to help students in the classroom. The question then becomes, if the Democratic lead House passed legislation which restores $184 million in funding to the K-12 budget is approved by the GOP-dominated Senate and signed into law, will that be enough to alleviate concerns from the feds about how Michigan funds its schools. The answer is unclear."
Once again, when we don't properly prioritize the right issues to move our state forward, it's the youngest and poorest amongst us that seem to suffer the most.