Gov. Snyder targets teacher performance in sweeping plan

PAUL EGAN
/ Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Detroit — Gov. Rick Snyder said today he wants to retool Michigan's school system so it demands and rewards performance in terms of student achievement.

He detailed changes to merit pay and the teacher tenure system; approval for more charter schools; a new state office devoted to early childhood education; tough anti-bullying measures; a greater emphasis on online education; and a more flexible system in which state funding would follow students wherever they go, rather than being assigned to a particular school district.

Further, the governor announced as many as 23 financially distressed school districts could be placed under emergency managers who have beefed-up powers to scrap collective bargaining agreements under controversial legislation he recently signed into law.

Snyder also expanded "Schools of Choice" plans and said residents of a local district will have the first opportunity to enroll there, but schools will no longer be able to refuse out-of-district students. And he called for consolidation and competitive bidding of school district business and administrative functions.

"Michigan's education system is not giving our taxpayers, our teachers, or our students the return on investment we deserve," Snyder said, noting Michigan ranks 21st in the country in per-pupil education spending, but ranks much lower in terms of academic performance.

The system "must be reshaped so that all students learn at high levels and are fully prepared to enter the workforce or attend college," Snyder said in a special message on education that he sent electronically to the Michigan Legislature and detailed at a news conference at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan in Detroit.

"They must think and act innovatively, demonstrate high performance, and meet the highest expectations."

He called for greater autonomy for individual school districts and more flexibility around class hours and the length of the school year. "Education opportunities should be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," he said.

"We must minimize all state and local barriers that hinder innovation at the local level, including seat time regulations, length of school year, length of school day and week, and the traditional configurations of classrooms and instruction," Snyder said.

Snyder also detailed a system of measuring performance through use of "dashboards" set up for all school districts and schools. Districts that achieve academic growth will get financial rewards, he said.

Snyder, a Republican who took office Jan. 1, also challenged all school districts to offer college credit opportunities to increase the number of advanced degrees Michigan students achieve.

"Providing open access to quality education without boundaries is essential," Snyder said. "One of the complaints that I hear most from teachers is that regulations prevent them from working with each students' individual learning styles. It's time we let schools focus on teaching and hold school districts accountable by measuring results."

Snyder said he wants to move to a system in which teachers who excel would be eligible for more pay and other rewards to encourage them to keep teaching instead of moving into higher-paid jobs in school administration. The very best teachers would be designated "master teachers" and serve as mentors.

He also said he wants to "raise the bar" for teacher training. Education majors would be required to pass their basic skills and subject matter before they could do student teaching. And Michigan universities that offer teaching degrees would have to follow the lead of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in requiring more instruction and student teaching time as part of their programs.

The governor said he wants to restructure the teacher tenure system "so that it rewards demonstrated years of effective teaching rather than time in the classroom."

Annual evaluations of teachers should be based on multiple measures, but must include effectiveness in advancing student achievement, he said. Pay step increases shouldn't be based on the number of degrees a teacher achieves, he said.

Ineffective teachers would be placed on probation after which they could lose the rights and privileges of tenure and "be dismissed in a more timely and cost-effective way," he said.

David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Michigan, said he's pleased Snyder praised, rather than bashed, teachers. But he said he has concerns about merit pay and other issues and "there are more strategies in there we disagree with than agree with."

Hecker said he doesn't understand how Snyder can expect to significantly improve early childhood education, teacher performance appraisals and other aspects of the system while proposing significant cuts in education funding.

Doug Pratt, a spokesman for the Michigan Education Association teacher union, said merit pay is "something that countless studies have shown doesn't actually work" in terms of improving student achievement.

Today's announcement comes more than two months after Snyder presented a budget in February that cut K-12 per-pupil funding by $470 and slashed university funding by 15 percent or more.

State Rep. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield Township, minority vice chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said this week Snyder's budget would "devastate our schools," and "he's trying to balance the budget on the backs of our children."

Even with state revenues spiking upward in an improving economy, Snyder said Tuesday more money for education is only one option that should be considered if lawmakers find themselves with as much as $500 million more money to close the budget gap. Using extra money to restore Michigan's depleted "Rainy Day Fund" should also be considered, he told reporters.

Snyder said Monday that despite the huge amount of resources going into education and the high level of talent in the school system, it is not achieving the needed results. He said only 16 percent of Michigan high school graduates are college-ready, based on ACT scores, and the state ranks poorly in math and reading.

Snyder has said he wants to get rid of education "silos" and move to a holistic education system that extends from prenatal to lifelong learning.

To control costs in the present system, Snyder has offered financial incentives to school districts that take steps to control employee benefits, such as requiring employees to pay at least 20 percent of the cost of their health care premiums.

For the 2013 fiscal year, Snyder has earmarked $300 million to be divvied up among school districts that move in that direction.

Snyder talked about the link between healthy children and the ability to learn during the critical early years and announced a new "Michigan Office of Great Start - Early Childhood" to oversee improvements in those areas, as well as prevention of bullying.

On charter schools, Snyder said the caps on their numbers that were established in 1994 no longer make sense.

"Charter schools play an important role by offering an alternative education option to parents and students, particularly in our struggling districts," Snyder said. "We need to increase the number of charter schools in Michigan to help attract the top charter operators from across the nation.

"I am proposing that any caps limiting the number of charter schools in districts with at least one academically failing school be removed," he said.

He also called for removal of restrictions that say a charter board can only oversee one building.

Penny Bailer, executive director of City Year Detroit and the "Diplomas Now" drop out and prevention program, said Snyder is grappling with serious issues to bring about the sweeping changes needed in Michigan's educational system, where only 16 percent of students are college-ready based on ACT scores and 238 Michigan schools scored zero on a recent proficiency test.

"When you hear some of those statistics it breaks your heart. It's almost criminal we allow this to go on," Bailer said after listening to the speech. "We can't keep doing things like since the 1800s where we have the whole summer off and kids fall 3 to 4 months behind. I like the fact he is willing to fight for change."

pegan@detnews.com

(517) 371-3660

Detroit News Staff Writer Jennifer Chambers contributed.