Grand Rapids Pundit

Exclusive: Grand Rapids Teacher’s Union Planning an Illegal Strike

Exclusive to Grand Rapids Pundit:

GR Pundit has come in to possession of a letter being sent to teachers and substitute teachers, preparing them for an impending illegal strike against Grand Rapids Public Schools. View the GREA Strike Letter. The letter, signed by Grand Rapids Education Association president Paul Helder on August 5th, laments the fact that Grand Rapids Public Schools teachers have worked without a contract for a year, and that no other teachers in Kent County are facing this “difficulty.” They claim that their contract demands are “minimal” and that there is “no end in sight” for the end to the negotiations. They further warn that the school district “…may impose its will on us, taking away rights and benefits…”

What is the difference between what GRPS is proposing and that the GREA is demanding, with the threat of strike?

According to the Grand Rapids Press, the union is demanding that teachers receive a raise of between 6.85% and 9.05%, with a retroactive increase of an additional 2% for the prior school year. In addition, the union is fighting a health insurance contribution increase of $40 a month. In contrast, the the school district is proposing raises of between 5.1% and 7.31%. The district wants teachers to pay $90 per month for health insurance, up from $50 a month now.

The union’s proposals would add $8.5 million to the school district’s budget, despite the fact that the district is losing around 850 students a year.

As we can see, the school district’s offer is imposing “difficulty” on teachers. When’s the last time you received a minimum 5.1% annual increase, no matter how well (or poorly) you did your job?

The letter is directed at those who would potentially cross the picket lines, mostly substitute teachers. It asks the letter’s recipient to “honor our picket lines,” and to “reject a call to substitute, if a strike occurs.” In other words, the union is clearly planning an illegal teacher strike, and asking substitute teachers to participate in their illegal activity.

Finally, the letter states that the recipient will “receive a telephone call from a GREA member…” No doubt, this phone call will consist of a “friendly” reminder of the consequences of breaking a picket line.

The state’s attorney general should investigate this matter immediately. The union is obviously spending money, received from taxpayers, to prepare to break state laws.

The union is doing everything it can to drive even more students and parents out of Grand Rapids. When will the popular media and the politicians stand up and end this fiasco? The lack of a decent education available from GRPS, along with an increasingly militant union, only makes our economic situation worse.

Posted by: GRPundit on Saturday, 23rd Aug, 2008

Charter School News for Grand Rapids and Detroit

There’s some good news in regards to charter schools to report for both Grand Rapids and Detroit.

For some quick background – state laws define a “first class” school district, which only Detroit Public Schools qualifies for. This special status allows Detroit’s school system some privileges in terms of funding, but also the state school code limits the types of charter schools that can operate in Detroit only to those chartered by public universities. As our readers may know, the number of university-chartered schools is capped at 150 statewide. However, a few other entities are able to issue charters as well, and that includes community colleges, intermediate school districts, and regular school districts. One of the privileges of “first class” status that Detroit Public Schools has enjoyed is a prohibition on any schools chartered by community colleges, intermediate school districts, and school districts. However, this is about to change.

The definition, in the school code, of “first class” district is any district that has over 100,000 students. However, because of the exodus of students out of DPS, the enrollment is expected to drop below 100,000 this year, meaning that community colleges, such as Bay Mills, will be able to finally open more charters in Detroit.

There was some confusion with the budget that was just passed for schools. At first it looked like the budget changed the definition of “first class” district in all state laws. The budget did change the definition of “first class” district to any district over 60,000 students, but that change in the law only applies to the School Aid Act, and not the school code. According to the Michigan Association of Public School Academies:

The newly defined “first class school district”, at over 60,000 students, effects only those provisions of the school aid act.  At the same time, first class district provisions within the school code — including chartering options for community colleges — remains defined as a district with 100,000 students.  Also, a provision that Detroit Public Schools can stop other traditional school districts from operation within the city limits was stripped from the bill.

This means that, finally, more charter schools can operate in Detroit (soon). More students will finally have a choice, other than being stuck in perhaps the worst school district in the nation.

In another bit of good news, Grand Rapids is getting its first general-education charter high school.  Grand River Prepatory High School will open up this fall. It will be operated by National Heritage Academies and is an extension of Excel Charter Academy. Excel’s eight grade students will get enrollment preference, but the enrollment process is open to all ninth-grade level students. The charter school detractors always harp on organizations like National Heritage for not operating high schools, but that’s about to change. Hopefully this will not be the only charter high school in Grand Rapids. The parents of GR deserve to have more choices. Well, they are already choosing – to leave Grand Rapids. Maybe more charter schools in the City would retain young couples with school-age children. Yes yes, I know, the new High School isn’t inside the city limits of Grand Rapids, but it’s a good start.

Posted by: GRPundit on Friday, 25th Jul, 2008

Detroit Schools: 75% Dropout Rate

The Detroit News has a short article today on the dropout rate of Detroit Public Schools students. The article states that a report from Education Week, a weekly education newspaper, has done a study showing that Detroit’s dropout rate is 75%. You can view the report’s web page by clicking here.

However, the bureaucrats at Detroit Public Schools are going ape because they say the numbers are “totally erroneous.” They say that they report a graduation rate of 67% to the state. So who is telling the truth? They both are. The difference is that Michigan school districts are only required to report the graduation rate of current seniors. In other words, they calculate it by taking the number of students who graduate from the 12th grade and dividing it by the number of students who started the 12th grade that year. The Education Week report takes the more realistic approach of taking the number of students who actually graduate from the 12th grade and divide it by the number who started the 9th grade. You see, many of the students who drop out do so before the 12th grade. Detroit Public Schools is misleading the public, as is the state of Michigan, by only reporting graduation rates of 12th graders.

So, we see that Detroit Public Schools is a failure by every definition of the word, yet they are still in business. Does anyone wonder why the enrollment at charter schools in Detroit is skyrocketing? Tens of thousands of students are stuck in a utter dismal failure of a school district because the cap on charter schools has been reached. Our governor continues to pander to the teachers unions and refuse to support lifting the cap. Meanwhile, another generation of kids is being denied an education, and consequently is comdemned to continue the cycle of poverty, crime, drugs, etc.

How about Grand Rapids Public Schools? The dropout rate at GRPS is slightly better – 52.8% of GRPS students actually graduate. Even more interestingly, the graduation rate of Godfrey Lee Public Schools (Wyoming) is only 37.8% and 49.1% in Kelloggsville Public Schools.The highest graduation rates in the area are at East Grand Rapids Public Schools (98.1%) and Forest Hills (97.9%). Unfortunately, charter schools are not listed in this report, but we do know that Black River Public School, a charter K-12 school in Holland, is ranked as the #2 school in the entire state by Newsweek.

Posted by: GRPundit on Tuesday, 12th Jun, 2007

Detroit Public Schools – Parents Have Spoken

Posted by: GRPundit on Monday, 16th Apr, 2007

State Budget Gnashing

The stage is already being set for a possible state (and probably local) tax increase. Today’s Detroit News reports that state revenues for the just-completed fiscal year 2005-2006 are down by $170 million. That’s about 0.85% less than they anticipated, yet we are already hearing that the world is going to end for schools and no more police will be on the streets.

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a quick look at the budget. We compiled the graph at left from data published by the Senate Fiscal Agency. It is a summary of the total state revenue and expenditures since the 1990-1991 fiscal year. The only year when the expenditures actually went down was 2002-2003, when they declined by 0.28%, or about $118 million. However, every single year, revenue has increased.

A couple of quotes will show you how bureaucrats and politicians are so good at making situations sound much worse than they are in order to scare us into being more accepting of tax increases. From the article above:

The governor and lawmakers have erased more than $3 billion in cumulative deficits over the past four years by making budget cuts, increasing cigarette taxes and fees, and shifting money from other accounts.

You’ll see, that even though one reduction in the budget from 2002 to 2003 occurred, a grand total of $118 million, bureaucrats seem to be able to conjure up at least $3 billion in “cuts” over the last several years. How do they do this? Here’s how:

If a government budget is $100 million this year and it is budgeted to increase to $110 million next year, but the actual increase is to $102 million, it is called an $8 million cut, even though more real money is being spent. Our Grand Rapids city politicians are very good at making this sort of obfuscationary budget argument. You see, the “cut” isn’t a real reduction in spending, it’s a reduction in the anticipated increase in spending.

Now, of course, the bureaucrats’ special interest groups are crying foul. Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of Schools Boards, the lobbyist organization for school districts, claims that any cut in school funding this year would be “devastating.” He says that 50 school districts are approaching bankruptcy, even though schools have received a 35% increase in funding, after adjusting for inflation, over the last ten years. One presumes that he is including our own Grand Rapids Public Schools when he says that districts are on the verge of bankruptcy, even though GRPS spends $10,770 per student. You see, a reduction in the state budget of 0.85% is billed as devastating to schools.

But the sky doesn’t stop falling there. Dan Gilmartin, executive director of the Michigan Municipal League (the lobbyist organization for Michigan cities), says, “Any additional cuts would be suicidal for communities,” and, We’re laying off cops, not paving roads and not attracting new jobs.”

This is all attributed to a state payment to cities called revenue sharing. Basically it’s a redistribution of state-collected taxes to city governments. Our city bureaucrats and politicians are fond of stating that the city government has “lost” $30 million in revenue sharing. However, we again look at the real numbers. Annual city revenue from revenue sharing has declined from a high of about $27 million a year to about $23 million this year. Yes, that’s a real reduction of $4 million, but instead of saying that they have had to cut $4 million out of the budget (that doesn’t sound too sexy), they add up what they would have gotten each year if the state continued to boost revenue sharing. Presto – they’ve “cut” $30 million out of the city budget!

The cry from cities is now that they will have to cut police and fire to make up the difference of any additional “cuts.”

Never underestimate a bureaucrat whose job is on the line. They will obfuscate the budget numbers as much as possible to scare us. Instead of cities and schools engaging in simple and small (0.85%) wage cuts to preserve jobs, they will lay off teachers, policemen, and firemen, all the while still maintaining extremely generous benefits packages for those who remain.

While the rest of us have had to tighten our belts and deal with the still-stagnant and even declining economy in Michigan, government will continue to expand. Government never will have “enough” – don’t forget that.

Posted by: GRPundit on Thursday, 16th Nov, 2006

Who Paid for Proposal 5? You Did!

We did some reseach on who backed Proposal 5 and, to our complete and utter lack of surprise, the far majority of the money came from the National Education Association, aka, the teachers union. How much? $3.4 million. If you’re a teacher, I hope you rest well knowing that so much of your dues money was wasted.

The Michigan Education Association contributed $496,000. All told, the teachers union funded Proposal 5 to the tune of about $4 million. That’s out of about $4.1 million total that was raised. There is no question as to who wanted this proposal to pass and who it would benefit.

But another interesting side note is how two publically-funded organizations, the Michigan Association of School Boards and the Middle Cities Education Association also contributed money. Both these organizations charge dues to school boards across the state. In other words, the taxpayer dollars we contribute to pay for schools are then paid to these two organizations as “dues,” and then those dollars were spent to back a proposal to extract even more dollars from us. Our own tax money was used against us. This should be criminal.

Posted by: GRPundit on Friday, 10th Nov, 2006

GR Pundit Election Wrap-Up

GR Pundit would like to express contentment with the outcome of the elections in Michigan this year. We have been in favor in a split government, that’s why we weren’t very big fans of a DeVos election. The re-election of Jennifer Granholm will ensure that continued split, with the addition of a Democrat-controlled State House. We just hope that the legislature and governor can get together and see the light about really turning Michigan around. Pet economic development plans won’t work – and when government picks economic winners and losers, we all lose. It’s time to make Michigan friendly to all businesses, not just a few that the governor likes.

As for the proposals, we are very pleased about how they turned out.

Proposal 1 – Ensuring that state park funds are actually spent on state parks – Passed

Proposal 2 – Banning racist hiring, admissions, and contracting practices by any unit of government in Michigan – Passed

Proposal 3 – Allowing morning doves to be hunted – Failed

Proposal 4 – Banning eminiment domain for economic development purposes – Passed

Proposal 5 – Setting up mandatory funding levels for K-16 education – Failed

We were most worried about Proposal 5 passing because it would have caused the most economic damage and would have done nothing but protect the bloated public education bureacuracy and continue the lack of accountability of education in Michigan. Now it’s time to lift the cap on charter schools – which cost less than traditional public schools and do a better job. Parents desperately want and need the choice.

Proposal 2, which we were also hopeful would pass, did so handily. Michigan, and any unit of government in Michgian, will no longer be able to engage in racist hiring, admissions, and contracting practices. We now have true equality in Michigan. Of course, groups such as By Any Mean Necessay (BAMN) have filed lawsuits trying to overturn the passage of Proposal 2. This just shows their complete contempt for the will of the people. In addition, their lawsuit invokes the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment in trying to argue that creating a color-blind government somehow creates unequal treatment.

Let the gnashing of teeth begin.

Posted by: GRPundit on Thursday, 9th Nov, 2006

Don’t Bankrupt Michigan – Vote NO on Proposal 5

Proposal five, which will be on Michigan’s ballot on Tuesday, is a union-sponsored and funded campaign to dramatically boost funding for teacher pensions. The proposal basically creates a madatory annual increase for school funding, based on the rate of inflation. However, what the proposal’s backers don’t tell you is that the majority of this money ($700 million in the first year alone) will go to teacher pensions, not the classroom. That money will either have to come from cutting other government services or raising taxes, because there certainly isn’t that much extra money in the state’s general fund. Voting yes on five does nothing more than line the pockets of the teacher’s union – none of the money is mandated to go to the calssroom. That’s why at GR Pundit, we’re voting NO on Proposal 5.

Posted by: GRPundit on Sunday, 5th Nov, 2006

Grand Rapids State of the City 2006

Mayor George Heartwell starts his State of the City 2006 Speech by summarizing past state of the city speeches and reviewing accomplishments pertaining thereto.

First, he starts with cooperation between the city schools and the city government. Nevermind that his 2004 state of the city touted cost savings as a primary goal of collaboration between the two entities, now he says that they’re working together just great in building new schools. You know, bureaucrats are holding hands around the table. Wonderful news.

Second, the mayor reviews his commitment to reduce illiteracy in Grand Rapids. It’s a good and important goal. He says he wants to reduce illiteracy by 50% over the next 10 years.

The mayor then skips everything else he proposed in the 2004 state of the city, preferring not to review the things he did not accomplish, such as the education renewal zones. He also skips over his desire to strengthen the unaccountable Grand Valley Metro Council’s central-planning powers when it comes to land use, as well as his intense desire to expand wasteful and expensive mass transit systems, such as light rail.

He then moves on to a review of his second state of the city, in 2005, which was essentially a blabber-fest about pollution and saving the world’s environment, all from City Hall. He touts all the wonderful things the city government is doing without mentioning much in the way of specific end points. He does mention, however, the new hybrid electric busses which the ITP will be purchasing at the bargain basement price of $500,000 each.

The next portion of the speech focuses on the Grand Rapids economy and its growth. This is certainly good news. Several anecdotal items are cited as examples of local companies which are expanding.

However, the following section is where the mayor goes completely wrong. He makes the following statement:

Before I talk about our course of action for economic development, I want to address our “ship’s” fuel reserves and our prospects for refueling on our way to our destination of economic health. I want to talk about the city’s budget.

Does anyone notice something wrong? We’ll tell you if you haven’t figured it out. As we’ve previously pointed out, the mayor doesn’t distinguish between the health of the city and the revenue of city government. He says in his speech that City Hall is what keeps the “ship” of Grand Rapids moving forward. He doesn’t understand that city government is usually the road block to further economic growth, not the reason for growth.

However, Mayor Heartwell does go on to explain the Lean Thinking initiative the city government is using to improve operating efficiency. It’s good to see that they are working on making the government operate better within its means.

Then comes the big stink bomb. More taxes. Heartwell goes on, complaining about lost “state revenue sharing,” which has been reduced over the last several years. It’s the usual complaint from city governments. As the Michigan economy limps along, the politicians and bureaucrats want more money. Well, it’s not coming down the pike. Perhaps they haven’t looked at the unemployment rates in Michigan lately.

The point of this speech:

[W]e are rapidly approaching the time at which we must bring a tax increase question before the voters.

Yes, that’s right. Hang on to your wallets, again.

But! Here comes the logical fallacy that the mayor is so wonderful at espousing. Out of one side of his mouth he says that taxes need to be raised. But lo and behold, he then goes on to propose tax abatements for industrial facilities. Nevermind that manufacturing is going the way of the telephone operator, the real point is that he implicitly recognizes that tax reductions help economic development. If tax abatements didn’t spur growth, why would they use them? But, at the same time, he proposes a general tax increase to prop up the bureaucracy. Which one is it, Mr. Mayor? Growth of government or growth of the economy?

Finally, Heartwell closes his speech with a promise to build a sustainable business park. He want to provide everything anyone ever wanted for development: high-speed internet, wireless internet, rail transportation, green space, on-site recycling, storm water capturing, and even a chicken in every pot. Wait, he didn’t say the chicken part, but the mayor promises everything else. Perhaps he’s never heard of what the free market is. Should city government be in the internet service business? How about rail transportation? Is your wallet getting lighter?

Essentially, the speech was, once again, about further government expansion and tax increases, although this year the tax increase part was explicit. The mayor only proposed one item which reduces government – the lean thinking initiative. Hopefully, one day, the mayor will realize that the size of city government is inversely related to the economic health of the city.

Posted by: GRPundit on Friday, 10th Feb, 2006

State of the Statist

Governor Granholm’s State of the State speech was a surprising call for expansion of government, even for our current governor.

According to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the governor called for 20 expansions of state government and only one reduction in state government. Apparently our governor has yet to take Economics 101. Michigan has been competing to be the worst economy in the nation, and the governor is doing a great job of proposing greater bureaucracy, government, and taxation to make sure things stay that way.

Among the highlights of the governor’s proposed expansion of government, and consequently, increased taxation, are: