Michigan's Education Reform

Race To The Top Legislation Opens Door To Federal Funds

This week, Governor Granholm signed a five-bill legislative package that reforms Michigan’s education system and allows the state to compete for up to $400 million in federal Recovery Act funds through President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative.  The state is finalizing its Race to the Top application which is due to the U.S. Department of Education by January 19.

The education reforms:

• Allow the state to intervene in the lowest-performing schools;
• Permit new high-quality charter schools to open if they meet certain standards, and permit the closure of low-performing charter schools;
• Require administrators to be certified;
• Require an annual evaluation of teachers and administrators using data on student growth;
• Create alternative routes to teacher certification to help bring the best and brightest into our classrooms; and
• Raise the dropout age from 16 to 18, effective for the high school class of 2016.

The final package included Senate Bill 926 (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-SB-0926), Senate Bill 981 (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-SB-0981), House Bill 4787 (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-HB-4787), House Bill 4788 (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-HB-4788), and House Bill 5596 (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-HB-5596). You can read analysis and the full bills at the provided links.

Source: Senator Martha Scott's Newsletter