HeadlinesA News Report for Michigan Education Leaders

April 29, 2014

inside this issue:

Download a Smartphone app to scan the QR code and learn more about MASB.

New NSBA Guide Helps School Boards Navigate Student Data Privacy Concerns in the Cloud Computing Era

State Assessment Hangs in Limbo Because of Legislature’s Indecision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

MERC Upholds Decision Barring ‘Teacher Placement’ Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Michigan Schools Ranked in U .S . News’ 2014 Best High Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

MASB Legal and Labor Services Welcomes Two New Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Reminder: Submit Your Proposals . . . . .8

Join MASB for a Professional Development Weekend in Lansing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

As school districts increasingly move to cloud computing

instead of on-site data storage, the National School Boards Association and its Council of School Attorneys have released a guide for school boards introducing the legal issues associated with protecting student data and suggesting best practices.

The guide, “Data in the Cloud,” seeks to raise awareness of student data privacy concerns, and to pro-vide a framework for comprehensive student data privacy approaches in school districts.

The guide notes that cloud comput-ing applications offer ease of use and accessibility, but come with the poten-tial for loss of privacy and increased liability, as personal information is transferred to the application.

“School boards should consider starting a discussion with school

district staff and their communities about building a comprehensive stu-dent privacy protection program,” said NSBA Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel. “This guide is a helpful tool for school boards as they review and potentially rethink policies related to data and student privacy.”

The guide uses a question-and-answer format to explain the rel-evant terminology, recent academic research, the breadth of software offerings, important legal require-ments, and additional resources avail-able to school board members and school lawyers.

“The legal requirements that could potentially govern student data pri-vacy are still evolving,” said Greg Guercio, COSA chair. “The school law requirements section of this guide is a key asset for school districts and their attorneys. Current laws still leave

plenty of room for interpretation on student privacy, making it is essential for district leaders to ask the right questions and understand potential problems.”

Recommendations for school boards include:

Register Today for May 2 Admin Professionals Webinar With Brad Banasik

Privacy, continued on Page 6

Registration is

open for an Administrative Professionals Webinar with MASB Legal Counsel and Director for Labor Relations/Policy Brad Banasik this Friday, May 2, from 9 a.m. - noon.

The three-hour seminar will cover an update on the Open Meetings Act, recommended procedures for disci-plinary hearings, legal issues regard-ing meeting minutes, and a question-

and-answer period.

“This webinar is designed so that administrative assistants will be able to work togeth-er with their school boards in fol-lowing the requirements of the Open Meetings Act and due process for stu-dent discipline hearings,” Banasik said.

To register, visit the MASB website. If you have any questions, please con-tact Mary McCarthy at mmccarthy@masb.org or 517.327.5918.

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 20142

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www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 3

Following education bills through the Michigan Legislature is like

watching the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day”—we keep revisiting the same is-sues over and over, but with a few minor tweaks each time. In April 2013, the Michigan Legislature began debating the Common Core State Standards three years after the State Board of Educa-tion had decided with 40+ other states to move forward with adopting the standards. This year, they are debating again, focusing on the assessment tied to the new standards. Michigan has been a governing part of the Smarter Bal-anced Assessment Consortium for the last three years and has been preparing Michigan schools to replace the out-of-date Michigan Educational Assessment Program test with the new SBAC. Michi-gan schools have been part of the pilot tests this year to ensure that the fully im-plemented process will go as smoothly as possible (likely not completely problem-free) in the 2014-2015 school year.

Seemingly, listening to the blogo-sphere and a minority of vocal oppo-nents, legislators are not coming out and saying we need to delay the change in testing to look at other options or to completely go back to the drawing board. The education and business com-munities do not believe a delay serves any purpose and causes other problems with staff evaluation and more impor-tantly, schools having solid, measurable data on how their students are doing compared to others.

The problem we face is that there is not complete agreement on what assess-ment should be used even by those who want to continue moving forward. Some are advocating for using the ACT family

of tests, while others say the Michigan Department of Education should design its own (Note: MDE was very involved in the writing of SBAC). Another group says it should be a mix of SBAC and ACT, and still another group would advocate for the Northwest Evaluation Association. MASB has not jumped into the assessment choice foray as we do not believe board members need to be involved in test selection, nor do we believe we have the expertise to add to this discussion. What we do believe is that an assessment must be chosen and continuing with the MEAP test (that many also have been critical of over the years) is not the answer.

Last week, without a determined common assessment choice, the Senate added language into its MDE budget proposal that would require the depart-ment to contract out a new state assess-ment that meets certain criteria. This comes a week after the House adopted an amendment to the School Aid budget

that effectively put the state’s ongoing transition to SBAC on hold for a year.

The Senate amendment was offered by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) and provided a list of criteria that MDE would have to use to write a request for proposal to be issued for a new assess-ment system for the 2015-2016 school year. The criteria included:

• Ability to assess English, reading, writing, math and science skills.

• Teachers, parents, students and administrators have access to a certain level of reporting.

• Results would be returned within a month of testing.

• Doesn’t exceed the current time allocated for testing.

• Doesn’t cost more than twice what the state currently pays for assess-ment.

The House version took a similar path last week with language inserted into the School Aid budget calling for the state

Legislative UpdateState Assessment Hangs in Limbo Because of Legislature’s Indecision

Don’t miss the weekly News From the Capitol emails distributed by the MASB Government Relations Department every Friday when the Legislature is in session .

Keep up-to-date and find out what’s happened in Lansing over the last week .Sign-up on the MASB website and view the archive of legislative alerts and

updates here .If you have any questions, contact Jennifer Smith, assistant director for

government relations, at jsmith@masb .org .

Assessment, continued on Page 8

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 20144

MERC Upholds Decision Barring ‘Teacher Placement’ Provisions

In the March 19, 2013 Headlines, we reported on an Administrative Law

Judge decision involving teacher place-ment provisions in labor contracts. In that decision, Judge David Peltz had deter-mined that the Public Employment Rela-tions Act “unambiguously gives the Em-ployer broad discretion to make placement decisions without bargaining the decisions or the effects thereof, and that any limita-tion on that discretion would be contrary to the plain reading of the statute.” As a result, the union’s unfair labor practice charge against the district was dismissed. The matter made its way to the Michi-gan Employment Relations Commission, which issued an Order on April 22, 2014 upholding Judge Peltz’s prior conclusions (Ionia Public Schools and Ionia Education Association, Case No. C12 G-136).

This matter stems from an Ionia Education Association unfair labor prac-tices complaint alleging that the Ionia Public Schools violated PERA by repudi-ating its contractual agreement to hold a “bid-bump” meeting and by refusing to post vacancies for teaching positions in accordance with the parties’ expired col-lective bargaining agreement. The parties’ contract contained various provisions regarding teaching assignments, one of which stated, “During the month of April, May or June, an assignment meeting shall be held to fill all vacancies known at the date of the meeting.” The provision also indicated that the most senior teachers would have preference in deciding wheth-er to bid for a vacant position or bump another teacher from a position they wished to occupy.

After the parties’ contract expired on Aug. 25, 2011, the district did not hold a “bid-bump” meeting despite multiple requests to do so by the union. When the union filed an unfair labor practice charge, the district argued that it had no duty to bargain with the union regard-ing the assignment requirements in the expired contract because those provi-

sions were now considered “prohibited subjects of bargaining” pursuant to Public Act 103 of 2011, which amends Section 15 of PERA to prohibit the bargaining of teacher placement decisions. The union pointed out that, as originally crafted, the bill which eventually became PA 103, contained language prohibiting negotia-tion over “the development, content, stan-dards, procedures, adoption and imple-mentation of the public school employer’s policy for placement of teachers . . .” However, by the time the bill was passed, this language had been simplified to pro-hibit negotiation of “any decision made by the public school employer regarding the placement of teachers, or the impact of that decision on an individual employee or the bargaining unit.” The union argued that this change in the language represent-ed the Legislature’s intent to narrow the provision and allow for the negotiation of the “development, content, standards, etc.” for implementing placement policies.

In the initial ALJ decision, Judge Peltz stated that his task was to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent behind the law. Contrary to the union’s claim, Judge Peltz stated that the provision was unambiguous and, therefore, did not require him to review the legislation’s history to understand its meaning. As he interpreted the provision, “the Employer is free to choose whatever assignments or positions it wishes to place a bargaining unit member in, and any criteria or policy which may [previously] have been in place [which] would constrain the Employer in making that decision are no longer governing or no longer binding under the statute.” Based upon this rationale, Judge Peltz dismissed the union’s unfair labor practice charge against the district hold-ing that “the Employer appears to have been simply following the statute” when it refused the union’s demands to bargain over issues involving teacher assignments. As expected, the union appealed this deci-sion to MERC.

The Commission panel upheld the ALJ decision and its rationale, indicating that the school district “has no duty to bargain over these issues. In fact, the par-ties are prohibited from doing so.” Unlike Judge Peltz, however, the Commission did endeavor to review the legislative history of PA 103, as the union suggested was necessary, but in the end determined that the changes made to the language prior to its enactment demonstrated intent by the Legislature to broaden the scope of pro-hibited topics, not narrow them.

Finally, the Commission also addressed the union’s argument that the district remained bound to honor the bid-bump provision of the contract during negotia-tions because the employer must “main-tain the status quo” as it relates to the prior contract until a new agreement is reached. The Commission agreed with this point in principle, but noted that it only applies to mandatory subjects of bargaining. Provisions mandating negotia-tions over prohibited subjects of bargain-ing should therefore be omitted from future contracts and are unenforceable as they relate to expired contracts.

Ultimately, this MERC decision makes it clear that teacher placement provisions should not be included in future collective bargaining agreements as they are prohib-ited subjects. Likewise, their inclusion in past agreements does not bind the district to continue to honor them once that prior contract has expired.

This case is another great example of school districts and the MASB Legal Trust Fund working together to achieve a legal decision that benefits all Michigan school districts. The Legal Trust Fund authorized financial support to Ionia Public Schools to help defray the legal costs of defend-ing the unfair labor practice claim. If your board would like to become a member of the Legal Trust Fund or request assistance from the Fund, please contact MASB Legal Counsel Brad Banasik at bbanasik@masb.org or 517.327.5929.

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 5

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Michigan Schools Ranked in U.S. News’ 2014 Best High Schools

Despite facing challenges of de-creased funding, dropout rates

and more, great things are happening in classrooms across the nation and the U.S. News’ 2014 Best High School rankings showcase examples of these.

Released last week, the rankings help parents to identify stand-out schools around the country. Partnering with the American Institutes for Research, U.S. News evaluated schools based on three steps:

Step 1: Determining whether each school’s students were performing bet-ter than statistically expected for the average student in the state. U.S. News looked at reading and math results of the state’s high school proficiency tests.

Step 2: For those schools that made it past this first step, the second deter-mined whether the school’s least-

advantaged students—black, Hispanic and low-income—were performing better than average compared to simi-lar students in the state.

Step 3: Schools that made it through the first two steps became eligible to be judged nationally on the final step—college-readiness performance—using Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data as the bench-marks for success, depending on which program was largest at the school.

The report ranked the top schools with gold, silver and bronze medals. Gold was awarded to the top 500 with the highest college readiness, silver to high-performing schools with aver-age college readiness and bronze to high-performing schools based on state exam performances. Out of the 31,200 high schools analyzed, 3 per-cent received gold, 9 percent silver and

15 percent bronze. The rankings also evaluated charter and magnet schools, and named the top schools for STEM education.

As a state, Michigan was ranked 34 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report evaluated 780 of the state’s high schools with 10 award-ed a gold medal, 50 received silver and 131 a bronze. International Academy in Bloomfield Hills took ninth place overall for the first time with a 100 percent college readiness score. Michigan’s other top schools included Excel Charter Academy-Grand River Prep School at 169 overall, Troy High School at 268 and Frankenmuth High School at 288.

For more information on Michigan’s overall ranking or to learn more about an individual high school, visit the U.S. News website.

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 20146

Building Community Partnerships for Student Success

• Identify an individual district-wide Chief Privacy Officer, or a group of individuals with district-wide responsibility for privacy;

• Conduct a district-wide privacy assessment and online services audit;

• Establish a safety committee or data governance team that includes the school or district’s Chief Privacy Officer to work with the school community,

recommend policies and best practices, and serves as the liaison between the school district and the community on privacy issues;

• Regularly review and update relevant district policies and incident response plans;

• Consistently, clearly and regularly communicate with students, parents and the community about privacy rights, and district policies and

practices with respect to student data privacy;

• Adopt consistent and clear contracting practices that appropriately address student data; and

• Train staff to ensure consistent implementation of school district’s policies and procedures.

Source: NSBA Press Release, April 28, 2014.

A new guide released by the National School Boards

Association last week details how school board members can build partnerships to secure a high-quality education, from early learning to graduation, for students in their districts. “Partnerships, Not Pushouts: A Guide for School Board Members on Community Partnerships for Student Success,” demonstrates how school boards can work with other community partners to provide seamless services and engage community members to improve their schools.

Every student who leaves high school without a diploma costs the U.S. hundreds of thousands of dol-lars in lost income over the student’s lifetime. Despite the recent gains in U.S. graduation rates, far too many young people, mainly students of color from educationally and socioeconomi-cally disadvantaged communities, are leaving school without a high school diploma or are severely underprepared for college-level work.

NSBA led the effort to develop this guide with a group of school board members from NSBA’s National Black Caucus of School Board Members,

National Caucus of

American Indian/Alaska Native School Board Members, National Hispanic Caucus of School Board Members and the Council of Urban Boards of Education.

The guide serves as a blueprint for school board members to build a better-coordinated system of sup-port for children and their families. By partnering with key stakeholders and local service providers, school boards can ensure that all children benefit from a “Personal Opportunity Plan” that guarantees access to out-of-school resources each child needs to

succeed in school and in life.One such example is the Schools

Uniting Neighborhoods Initiative in Oregon, as featured in the guide. This school community partner-ship helps create a seamless learning environment. A cohesive collabora-tion between the school districts, the city, and county, it includes more than 70 schools within the Portland-Multnomah County Area. SUN worked with various partners such as libraries, parks, local health clinics, churches and businesses to provide in-school and wraparound support to students and their families. The col-laboration is guided by an agreement between all three entities that outlines the processes in which they will work together in creating a shared vision and common goals to support the schools within the initiative.

NSBA partnered with the Alliance for Excellent Education; American Federation of Teachers; Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning; Coalition for Community Schools; National Education Association; Opportunity Action; National Opportunity to Learn Campaign; and Rural School and Community Trust to release the guide.

Privacy, continued from Page 1

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 7

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MASB Legal and Labor Services Welcomes Two New Staff

Joel Gerring began his work

with the MASB as assistant legal coun-sel on April 8. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Michigan, as well as

a 2000 graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law. He will be assisting both Legal Counsel/Direc-tor of Labor Relations & Policy Brad Banasik, with labor relations and legal services issues, and Associate Director of Labor Relations Tom White, with contract negotiation matters.

Joel’s background includes several years working as a medical malprac-tice litigation attorney. Additionally, he has served as an education policy analyst for the Michigan House of

Representatives and as an adminis-trative law judge for the Michigan Administrative Hearing System, adju-dicating unemployment matters.

Joel and his family reside in Williamston, where he is actively involved in coaching his daughters’ various sports teams. Over the past few months a majority of his time has been devoted to shoveling snow. Lots of snow. Joel can be reached at jgerring@masb.org or 517.327.5922.

Kacie Kefgen joined the

MASB team on April 8 as the assistant director of labor relations and legal services. She will also take on the task of

supporting and improving the ERiN

website. Kacie earned her undergrad-uate degree from James Madison Col-lege at Michigan State University and will graduate from the MSU College of Law in May. She will be working on a part-time schedule while she prepares to sit for the bar exam in July.

A familiar face in the education world, Kacie previously worked for the Middle Cities Education Association as the director of commu-nications and membership services. She also served as a legislative aide to State Representative Joel Sheltrown.

When she is not in the office or studying law textbooks, Kacie enjoys traveling the globe with her husband, Bob, camping without electricity and running. Kacie can be reached at kkefgen@masb.org or 517.327.5914.

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 20148

MASB needs your expertise to cre-

ate exceptional learning experiences throughout its 2014 Annual Leader-ship Conference to be held Nov. 6 – 9 in Grand Rapids. To this end, we are seeking clinic session presentation proposals from school districts, school board members, thought lead-ers and like-minded organizations. The presentations would be given on either Nov. 7 or 8.

MASB is proud to provide the high-est quality educational leadership for boards of education in Michigan. The Annual Leadership Conference is the Association’s flagship event—an intensive three-day learning and net-working experience bringing together hundreds of board of education mem-bers, school district leaders and con-tent experts. The goal is to inform and equip school board members so they may govern and lead their districts effectively.

Presenting at MASB’s Annual Leadership Conference is the ideal way to share best practices, dissemi-nate effective strategies and deepen understanding regarding emerging issues in education.

If you’re interested in having a program or presentation from your school or organization considered for the 2014 Annual Leadership Conference, please read the guidelines and submit online by Friday, May 9.

If you have any questions, contact the Leadership Services Department at leadershipservices@masb.org or by calling 517.327.5900.

Imagine having—on your desktop, right now—everything you need

to prepare, publish, distribute and use board agenda packets electronically.

One quick login, and everything you need is at your fingertips, wheth-er you’re an administrative assistant compiling the packet, a board mem-ber reviewing a packet or a superin-tendent/business official preparing for a meeting.

BoardBook solves a common chal-lenge facing boards—how to manage the paper devoted to board meeting agenda packets. With BoardBook, each agenda packet is delivered as a single PDF. The packets can be read both online and offline on iPads, e-book readers, laptops and other portable devices.

To learn more, join MASB for the next webinar: Tuesday, May 13 @ 10 – 11:15 a.m.

Contact Stacy Washington at swashington@masb.org or 517.327.5936 for more information.

Free Webinar: Creating Agenda Packets With BoardBook

Reminder: Submit Your Proposals by May 9Call for Presentations Open for 2014 MASB Annual Leadership Conference, Nov . 6 – 9

to develop its own English Language Arts Standards and math tests to be administered in the 2014-2015 school year, and stipulated that a RFP be issued for a new state assessment beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. Like the Senate, the House also included a list of criteria although it wasn’t as extensive.

In response to the House action, State Superintendent Mike Flanagan has state that there is no way MDE can get a state-developed assessment ready for next year and that, even if they could, it would not meet our federal waiver

requirements. Some legislators have since taken issue with that assertion and questioned how other states, like South Carolina, are able to handle similar situ-ations. The waiver question seems to be a lot of finger pointing about whether Michigan would continue to qualify for its No Child Left Behind waiver or not. No two states have the same setup and some states have continued to receive their waiver while others have not. The best way to answer that question is to pick an assessment that is tied to evalu-ation (per Michigan law), and submit it

to the U.S. Department of Education for an answer. Waiting a year puts Michigan at much higher risk with potential loss of federal monies, Adequate Yearly Progress designations and subsequent NCLB sanctions.

MASB continues to monitor this situ-ation and our encouragement would be to let you legislator know that the nei-ther the state of Michigan nor the stu-dents in our schools can afford to wait another year for a decision to be made.

Assessment, continued from Page 3

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 9

With MASB’s FREE New Online Survey ToolMeasure Your Board’s Performance

Learn more atwww.masb.org/board-self-assessment.aspx!

Board Self-Assessment

A board self-assessment serves many purposes, including:

• Fostering healthy dialogue

• Improving the board’s understanding of its roles and responsibilities

• Gathering the perceptions of all board members

• Identifying next steps for board development• Demonstrating continuous improvement

MASB encourages boards to develop a strong commitment to regularly evaluate and improve their practices and procedures, and is available to help member boards meet this important challenge.

Join MASB for a Professional Development Weekend in Lansing

Registration is open for the next CBA Weekend, June 6 – 7, 2014,

at Lansing Community College West.This event is well worth your time if

you are:• New to your school board or a

long-time veteran—there are al-ways new things to learn.

• Interested in learning more on a particular topic like school law, dealing with board member turn-over or finances.

• Looking to complete a Board Member Award certification level.

Fifteen CBAs across all three lev-els will take place between Friday and Saturday. From the basics (CBA 101)

to collaborative conversations (CBA 365—one of three new courses this year), these courses help you develop new skills, stay up-to-date on education issues and earn recognition for profes-sional development.

There is community support for these activities. A February 2014 survey on the importance of school board train-ing found that 80 percent of responding Michigan voters believed school board training should be mandatory.

Don’t miss out—register today on the MASB website or contact the Leadership Services Department with questions.

Add Boyne to Your Summer Calendar2014 MASB Summer School

for School LeadersWhen: Aug. 8 - 9

Where: Boyne Highlands

What: A weekend featuring CBA classes, “Go to Pros” Summit for Administrative Professionals, Board President Workshop, Advanced Workshop for Board Presidents and family fun!

Register today at www .masb .org!

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 201410

Thirty-Four Michigan Robotics Teams Com-pete in World Championship

The FIRST® Robotics Competition World Championship was held in St. Louis, April 23 – 26, with two teams from Michigan ending up in the FRC Championship Winning Alliance—Las Guerrillas from Bloomfield Hills and Team C.H.A.O.S. from Holland.

Additionally, Team RUSH from Clarkston won the Chairman’s Award, the highest honor given at the FRC Championship, recognizing the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST. This year, 68,175 students on 2,727 FRC teams in 17 countries participated in 98 Regional and District competitions.

A not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST inspires young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. At FIRST Robotics Competitions, remote-controlled robots piloted by students go head to head in short games on the floor of a sports arena, competing to earn points during a two-minute round. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” This volunteer-based organization aims to “transform our culture by creating a world where sci-ence and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becom-ing science and technology leaders.”

In this year’s game, AERIAL ASSISTSM, FRC teams took to the field, where competing Alliances scored points by throwing balls over a truss, catching balls and putting as many balls in goals as possible. The more Alliances worked together to score, the more points their Alliance

received.“This country celebrates sports and

entertainment, but wealth is not cre-ated by these ventures; it is the result,” Kamen said. “It’s a passion for science, technology and innovation that have allowed these industries to prosper. Take what you have learned here and solve the world’s problems.”

Source: FRC Press Release, April 26, 2014.

Plymouth-Canton Culinary Team Heads to Nationals

For the fourth straight year, the Plymouth-Canton Culinary Team will represent the state at the national level, May 3 – 5 in Minneapolis, Minn. The team will try to improve upon last year’s 10th place finish (it was second in 2012 and its management team fin-ished fourth in 2011).

“When you go to a national com-petition, it’s really like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” Coach Diane Woodward said. “These teenagers ... train all year at multimillion-dollar facilities and their mentors are some of the most influential people in the business. Every single team in the country comes to play.”

Source: Observer & Eccentric, April 25, 2014.

Two Michigan Schools Named As National Green Ribbon Schools

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan applauded the announcement by the U.S. Department of Education that Renaissance High School in Clarkston and Lenawee Intermediate School District TECH Center in Adrian have been designated Green Ribbon Schools.

“It’s indeed an honor for these Michigan schools to have their efforts recognized by the U.S. Department of Education,” Flanagan said. “Advancing environmental stewardship through education is a model that every school can adopt and from which students and educators can gain many benefits.”

Forty-eight schools across the United States were honored for their exemplary efforts to reduce environ-mental impact and utility costs, pro-mote better health and ensure effec-tive environmental education, includ-ing civics and green career pathways.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the honored schools “are modeling a comprehensive approach to being green by encompassing facil-ity, wellness and learning into their daily operations. They are demon-strating ways schools can simultane-ously cut costs, improve health and engage students with hands-on learn-ing that prepares them with the think-ing skills necessary to be successful in college and careers.”

The schools were confirmed from a pool of candidates voluntarily nomi-nated by 30 state education agencies. The list of selectees includes 39 public schools and nine private schools from 27 states.

The list of all selected schools and districts, as well as their nomination packages, can be found here. A report with highlights on the 57 honorees can be found here.

Source: Michigan Department of Education Press Release, April 23, 2014.

Education NewsAround the State

Education News, continued on Page 11

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 11

A publication of the Michigan Association of School Boards

Contact MASB800 .968 .4627 • www .masb .org 517 .327 .5900 • webmaster@masb .org

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Opinions and sponsorships expressed in Headlines don’t neces-sarily reflect the position of MASB.

HeadlinesA News Report for Michigan Education Leaders

Mission StatementTo provide quality educational leadership services for all Michigan boards of education, and to advocate for student achievement and public education.

2013-2014 MASB Board OfficersPresident: Ruth Coppens President-Elect: Donald Hubler Vice President: Darryle Buchanan Past President: Steve Zinger

Executive Director Kathy Hayes

Director of Communications, PR and MarketingJohn Tramontana

May 3, 2014• CBA 101 @ Van Buren ISDMay 5, 2014• CBA 327 @ Mecosta ISD• CBA 343 @ Marquette-Alger RESA

With Distance Learning SitesMay 7, 2014• CBA 229 @ Eaton RESAMay 13, 2014• Creating Agenda Packets With BoardBookMay 17, 2014• CBAs @ Fitzgerald

View Complete Calendar

Grand Rapids Students Participate in Sec-ond Annual Jump Jam

Over 600 fourth, fifth and sixth grade students participated in Jump Jam, a jump rope competition to increase physical activity and health awareness at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids on April 19. The mission of Jump Jam is to improve the health of communities it serves.

Grand Rapids Public Schools partnered with Spectrum Health to provide the free competition to GRPS students for the second year in a row. GRPS has also partnered with the Student Advancement Foundation to offer more elementary after-school sports, including basketball and soc-cer. Currently, the district requires students to attend gym class once a week for 48 minutes.

In the past year, Michigan has been making improvements in its battle against childhood obesity. In a report by the Centers for Disease Control released in August 2013, Michigan showed a declining rate of obesity in children ages two to four from low income families. The same report states Michigan’s obesity rate for 10 to 17 year olds was at 14.8 percent in 2013.

Source: MLive, April 18, 2014.

Utica Community Schools Honored for Out-standing Music Program

Utica Community Schools was announced as one of The National

Association of Music Merchants Foundation’s 2014 Best Communities for Music Education. The NAMM Foundation’s award highlights dis-tricts and schools across the United States for their commitment to and support of music education.

The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance active participation in music-making across the nation by supporting scientific research, philan-thropic giving and public service pro-grams from the international music products industry.

“I congratulate everyone involved in the district’s music department for earning this well-deserved rec-ognition,” said Board of Education President Carol Klenow. “It is another indicator of the high value the UCS community has always placed on fine and performing arts education, and the importance of providing students with exceptional learning opportuni-ties in the arts.”

To be considered for inclusion in the Best Communities for Music Education, districts are required to detail student access to music instruc-tion and positive achievement out-comes. The data is then reviewed by researchers at the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, Kan., and the NAMM Foundation.

Source: Advisor & Source, April 3, 2014.

Education News, continued from Page 10

in New York and reported, “most said their students were doing higher-qual-ity work than they had ever seen, and were talking aloud more often.”

The new standards won’t revolu-tionize education. It’s not enough to set goals; you have to figure out how to meet them. But they are a step for-

ward. Yet now states from New York to Oklahoma are thinking of rolling them back. This has less to do with substance and more to do with talk-radio bombast and interest group resistance to change.

The circus has come to town.

Worth Repeating, continued from Page 13

www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 201412

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• Updated and improved search techniques and tools, generating the nation’s most extensive search network.

• Rely on MASB’s Executive Search Services to match your district’s needs with the right leader. Contact Donna Oser at 517.327.5923 or doser@masb.org to learn more.

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www.masb.org • MASB Headlines • April 29, 2014 13

Worth Repeating

Worth Repeating doesn’t necessarily reflect the views or positions of MASB. It’s intended to spark dialogue and inform readers about what’s being said about public education around the state and nation.

When the Circus DescendsEditorial From the April 17, 2014 New York Times. Written by David Brooks.

We are pretty familiar with this story: A perfectly sensible if

slightly boring idea is walking down the street. Suddenly, the ideological circus descends, burying the sensible idea in hysterical claims and fevered accusations. The idea’s political back-ers beat a craven retreat. The idea dies.

This is what seems to be happening to the Common Core education stan-dards, which are being attacked on the right because they are common and on the left because they are core.

About seven years ago, it was widely acknowledged that state education standards were a complete mess. Huge numbers of students were graduating from high school unprepared either for college work or modern employ-ment. A student who was rated “pro-ficient” in one state would be rated “below basic” in another. About 14 states had pretty good standards, according to studies at the time, but the rest had standards that were ver-bose, lax or wildly confusing.

The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers set out to draft clearer, con-sistent and more rigorous standards. Remember, school standards are not curricula. They do not determine what students read or how teachers should teach. They are the goals for what students should know at the end of each grade.

This was a state-led effort, sup-ported by employers and financed by private foundations. This was not a federal effort, though the Obama administration did encourage states to

embrace the new standards.These Common Core standards are

at least partially in place in 45 states. As is usual, the initial implementation has been a bit bumpy. It’s going to take a few years before there are textbooks and tests that are truly aligned with the new standards.

But the new initiative is clearly superior to the old mess. The math standards are more in line with the standards found in the top performing math nations. The English standards encourage reading comprehension. Whereas the old standards frequently encouraged students to read a book and then go off and write a response to it, the new standards encourage them to go back to the text and pick out specific passages for study and as evidence.

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which has been evaluating state stan-dards for more than 15 years, conclud-ed that the Common Core standards are “clearly superior” to the old stan-dards in 37 states and are “too close to call” in 11 more.

But this makes no difference when the circus comes to town.

On the right, the market-share-obsessed talk-radio crowd claims that the Common Core standards represent a federal takeover of the schools. This is clearly false. This was a state-led effort, and localities preserve their control over what exactly is taught and how it is taught. Glenn Beck claims that Common Core represents “leftist indoctrination” of the young. On Fox, Elisabeth Hasselbeck cited a curriculum item that supposedly taught students

that Abraham Lincoln’s religion was “liberal.” But, as the education analyst Michael J. Petrilli quickly demonstrat-ed, this was some locally generated cur-riculum that was one of hundreds on a lesson-sharing website and it was pro-mulgated a year before the Common Core standards even existed.

As it’s being attacked by the talk-radio right, the Common Core is being attacked by the interest group left. The general critique from pro-gressives, and increasingly from teach-ers’ unions, is that the standards are too difficult, that implementation is shambolic and teachers are being forced into some top-down straitjacket that they detest.

It is true that the new standards are more rigorous than the old, and that in some cases students have to per-form certain math skills a year earlier than they formerly had to learn them. But that is a feature, not a bug. The point is to get students competitive with their international peers.

The idea that the Common Core is unpopular is also false. Teachers and local authorities still have control of what they teach and how they teach it. A large survey in Kentucky revealed that 77 percent of teachers are enthu-siastic about the challenge of imple-menting the standards in their class-rooms. In another survey, a majority of teachers in Tennessee believe that implementation of the standards has begun positively. Al Baker of The Times interviewed a range of teachers

Worth Repeating, continued on Page 11