It has been quite a week for education here in Michigan. Last week, I attended the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) Lobby Day in Lansing (our state capital). The idea is that all attendees get the chance to speak with a legislator about education issues.
This year, the AFT set up Lobby Day in the town-hall meeting style, with about eight “town hall” meetings happening simultaneously. Each meeting had both state senators and state representative assigned to it for a question and answer session.
Sadly, the state House of Representatives was in caucus all day, so we were unable to speak with any of them. That left us with state senators. We were to have three senators; we met only one senator. The other two senators (one Democrat and one Republican) sent staffers. The staffer sent by the Republican had been on the job for two whole days and education was not her area of expertise and she took no notes. The Democratic staffer took no notes, but he could at least discuss the issues with a room full of teachers.
The AFT-Michigan asked us to focus on four main issues: the K-16 funding initiative, the School Employees Health Benefit Act, Defined Contribution System and Graded Premiums for Health Benefits (link unavailable), and finally the Michigan Merit Curriculum (which passed in the House while we were in Lansing). Like any room of teachers, we focused in immediately on the legislation that would have the heaviest impact on our day-to-day lives: the Michigan Merit Curriculum.
As far a state standards, the state of Michigan sets forth standards and benchmarks that are designed to help teachers know what skills students should master at different grade levels (though I have to admit, these standards are not grade specific for high school English). The only graduation requirement that the state ever mandated was that every Michigan high school student had to take a half-year course in civics. Of course, no high school in the state requires so little, but the politicians felt that in an election year, this woeful requirement had to be supplemented.
The new high school requirements will look like this
AT LEAST 4 CREDITS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS THAT ARE
ALIGNED WITH SUBJECT AREA CONTENT EXPECTATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE
DEPARTMENT UNDER SUBSECTION (2) AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD
UNDER SUBSECTION (3).
(ii) AT LEAST 4 CREDITS IN MATHEMATICS THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH
SUBJECT AREA CONTENT EXPECTATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SUBSECTION (2) AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD UNDER SUBSECTION
(3), INCLUDING COMPLETION OF AT LEAST 1 ALGEBRA I CREDIT, 1 ALGEBRA
II CREDIT, 1 GEOMETRY CREDIT, AND AN ADDITIONAL MATHEMATICS CREDIT.
IF A PUPIL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES A CREDIT IN ALGEBRA I OR ALGEBRA
II BEFORE ENTERING HIGH SCHOOL, THE PUPIL SHALL BE GIVEN HIGH
SCHOOL CREDIT FOR THAT CREDIT. AT LEAST 1 OF THESE CREDITS SHALL BE
COMPLETED DURING THE PUPIL’S LAST YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL.
(iii) AT LEAST 3 CREDITS IN SCIENCE THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH
SUBJECT AREA CONTENT EXPECTATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SUBSECTION (2) AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD UNDER SUBSECTION
(3), INCLUDING COMPLETION OF AT LEAST 1 BIOLOGY CREDIT, 1 CHEMISTRY
OR PHYSICS CREDIT, AND AN ADDITIONAL SCIENCE CREDIT. AT LEAST 1 OF
THE ADDITIONAL CREDITS APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT SHALL BE A CREDIT
IN EARTH SCIENCE. IF A PUPIL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES 1 OR MORE OF
THESE SCIENCE CREDITS BEFORE ENTERING HIGH SCHOOL, THE PUPIL SHALL
BE GIVEN HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT FOR EACH OF THEM.
(iv) AT LEAST 0.5 CREDIT IN CIVICS, 0.5 CREDIT IN ECONOMICS, 1
CREDIT IN UNITED STATES HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, AND 1 CREDIT IN
WORLD HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY. THESE CREDITS SHALL BE ALIGNED WITH
SUBJECT AREA CONTENT EXPECTATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SUBSECTION (2) AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD UNDER SUBSECTION
(3).
House Bill No. 5606 (H-7) as amended March 2, 2006
(v) AT LEAST 1 CREDIT IN SUBJECT MATTER THAT INCLUDES BOTHHEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION ALIGNED WITH GUIDELINES DEVELOPED BY
THE DEPARTMENT UNDER SUBSECTION (2) AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD
UNDER SUBSECTION (3).
(vi) AT LEAST 1 CREDIT IN VISUAL[, PERFORMING, AND APPLIED] ARTS
ALIGNEDWITH GUIDELINES DEVELOPED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER SUBSECTION (2)
AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD UNDER SUBSECTION (3).
(B) HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AT LEAST 1 COURSE OR LEARNING
EXPERIENCE THAT IS PRESENTED ONLINE, AS DEFINED BY THE DEPARTMENT.
IF A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY IS UNABLE TO PROVIDE
THE BASIC LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED BY THE
STATE BOARD TO COMPLETE THE ONLINE COURSE OR LEARNING EXPERIENCE,
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY IS ENCOURAGED TO APPLY
FOR AN EDUCATIONAL MANDATE ROLLBACK CONTRACT AS DESCRIBED IN
SUBSECTION [(9)].
This all looks very nice, but where will the funding be found? Schools like mine already offer very few electives; I can just see us cutting some of those to hire more math teachers. I wonder about the Internet access required for on-line learning. Notice how that eliminates the need for classroom teachers and probably benefits? The last line of this section of the law is the best; schools or academies (charter schools) may apply for an “educational mandate rollback contract” if it is unable to meet that requirement. This is a waiver. The more I learn about what actually happens in charter schools, the more I realize that this waiver is aimed at them. We hear that the charter schools in our community don’t offer music, arts, libraries, science, and social studies. I would bet big money that their computer equipment is poor.
On a personal note, I have no idea what I would have done if I had been forced to take all of that math. I am not sure that I would have made it to college. I look at the kids in my school and see so many struggle with math and I know that this will lead to kids not graduating on time and perhaps to increased drop out rates.
I wonder why our legislators have decided to go with stick, rather than carrot. I wonder why our legislators have decided that all kids must be little clones of each others and take the exact same courses. I wonder why they actually think that all children learn at the same rate. Then I remember that the one senator who actually came and spoke to us told use that many politicians think that teachers are whiny babies who don’t work during the summer. They want us to fail so they can place education in private, for-profit hands that will turn out good little worker bees who won’t ask questions.
Sometimes, it just gets harder and harder to stay in this business.