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| Keep on reforming Michigan's schools; DetNews-August 2, 2010 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 2 2010, 10:04 PM (206 Views) | |
| Administrator | Aug 2 2010, 10:04 PM Post #1 |
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Administrator
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Keep on reforming Michigan's schools State lost out on Race to the Top funds, but the reforms it triggered should be sustained Michigan didn't make it as a finalist in the second round of the federal education funding program Race to the Top. But while state officials and educators are disappointed, the reforms passed into law earlier this year justify participation in the program. The state is still committed to implementing the education reforms, says Martin Ackley, director of communications with the Michigan Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education's competition for funding -- it's been compared to the "American Idol" for schools -- encouraged reforms that will improve education around the country. Michigan was one of 36 applications in the second and final round of Race to the Top. Nineteen finalists, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Ohio and South Carolina, will compete for more than $3 billion in funding. Winners will be announced in September. Having gone through two application rounds, Michigan fine-tuned its goals and gained the support of many teachers and districts. The reforms include linking student academic performance to teacher evaluations, allowing the state to intervene in the lowest-performing schools, expanding the number of charter schools and raising the dropout age from 16 to 18. Clearly, Michigan education needs reform, even without the federal grants. A fourth of Michigan's high school students don't graduate in four years, and if the state wants to see more of its students go on to college, the performance of all high school students must improve. One of the Race to the Top goals Michigan adopted is to increase the overall high school graduation rate to 80 percent in four years and to 90 percent by 2020. That remains a necessary objective. The nearly $400 million in requested federal funding would have been helpful to Michigan schools. But the state Department of Education is working with the Legislature to ensure funding for the reforms, Ackley says. Suzanne Wilson, chair of the department of teacher education at Michigan State University, helped collaborate with the state Department of Education for its Race to the Top proposal, and says states that passed reforms and then didn't get federal money are now "between a rock and a hard place" since reforms were a prerequisite for the competition. Wilson thinks that it was still a good process for the state but that without financial incentives in place, some schools may take longer to make changes. Philip Kearney, professor emeritus of education at the University of Michigan, predicts the state will be able to come up with the additional funding by shifting existing resources. That should be a priority for the next Legislature. The reason for pursuing the Race to the Top money was not merely financial. It was an excellent opportunity to jump-start reforms that should have been pursued anyway. The ultimate goal is better schools. The Race to the Top competition ended in disappointment for the state, but it should not be the end of the reform commitment. From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100802/OPINION01/8020347/1007/rss07#ixzz0vVKm7Sez |
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