SPECIAL REPORT: The Bernero & Snyder Education Plans

By Chris Andrews

Schools have taken a back seat to jobs in this year’s race for governor, but there is an indisputable connection. Republican Rick Snyder and Democrat Virg Bernero both know education is key to success in a knowledge economy. And Michigan is struggling.

Dropout rates are high. Schools are running in deficit, and the state’s application for up to $400 million in federal Race to the Top funds was turned down, – twice – because the evaluators concluded other states were more serious, or more competent in planning reform. The Detroit public schools have been turned to an emergency financial manager, again. Some school districts have shortened the school year – sometimes by two weeks or more – to cut costs.

Reforms are needed, the experts say.

“I think they (Michigan schools) are doing pretty poorly,” said Brian Jacob, the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy at the University of Michigan. He says Michigan monitors progress but doesn’t take forceful action when schools are failing. It does little to prod school districts to select effective curricula. And the low standard for proficiency set by the MEAP test masks the fact that many students pass the MEAP but lag behind students on national tests.

Snyder and Bernero both acknowledge that public schools face serious problems and that far too many children are being left behind. They say improving public schools will be a top priority if voters elect them as Michigan’s next governor. Snyder has a seven-page plan to “Reform Michigan’s Educational System” on his website, rickformichigan.com. Bernero has an eight-page (including a cover) plan, “Education IS Economic Development,” on votevirg.org.

Neither plan errs on the side of providing too much detail about how the candidate would implement his plan. But their position papers, as well as public comments and responses to questions submitted by the Center for Michigan, offer substantial contrasts in some areas — as well as some areas of common emphasis that will likely be a focus regardless of who wins the election.

Snyder believes that far too much of the debate has focused on money, that it is neither the problem nor the solution, He says schools need to operate more efficiently with focus on achieving better outcomes with the resources they have. The state needs to do a better job of collecting data, setting appropriate benchmarks, and holding educators accountable.

“Oversized, inefficient and wasteful structures within the state’s education system hurt Michigan’s opportunity to compete and end up negatively affecting classrooms,” his plan says. “Michigan needs to generate smart solutions based on performance outcomes and legitimate benchmarks, while incorporating innovative measures from other states.”

Bernero focuses on more concrete changes in his education agenda. Universal preschool and full-day kindergarten to prepare young children for school. “Right track academies” for disruptive and truant children and graduation requirements for prisoners to steer troubled youth toward education credentials. He wants more before-and after-school programs to reduce the dropout rate.

Bernero’s wife is a principal in the Lansing School district, and he calls her his top education adviser.

“For many kids on Main Street, a good education is their only hope for a better life,” he says. “For our state, good education is our only hope to help reverse the erosion of our middle class way of life.”

Here is a look at some of the major issues that either Bernero or Snyder will face in the next four to eight years, and where they stand.

School Funding

It’s been nearly 17 years since the Legislature and Michigan voters enacted the school financing reforms that are known as Proposal A. The changes succeeded in reducing funding disparities between school districts and in reducing the property tax burden on homeowners. Under Proposal A, school districts are largely at the mercy of the state in determining their funding.

Granholm and the Legislature have made public schools a high priority in an era that has been dominated by budget crises. State funding for schools increased from $12.6 billion in fiscal 2003 to $12.8 billion in fiscal 2010 — a mere 2 percent increase over eight years, but an increase nonetheless. The state general fund, used for most operations of state government, fell from $8.8 million to $8.1 billion over the same period, according to the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency.

Most school districts have felt budget pain of varying degrees. Some have laid off teachers, charged more for athletics, cut busing and delayed textbook purchases. Retirement incentives were approved by the Legislature to help districts cut costs — but are causing an exodus of thousands of experienced teachers and administrators.

Bernero says it’s time for an overhaul.

“The funding system is broken. I’m not here to tell you that I’ve got the blueprint for how we’re going fix it,” he told the Escanaba Daily Press during his “Fighting for Main Street” campaign tour. “I’m going to tell you that I’m going to lead a charge. We have to get a statewide task force together of the best minds and say, ‘Where do we want education to be in five years?’”

Bernero also supports giving local school districts the opportunity to ask local voters to raise their property taxes to provide more money for schools — an option that was largely removed through Proposal A as part of the strategy for minimizing funding disparities between schools in affluent and poor communities. “If local voters choose to approve additional millages to support their schools, I do not believe the state should interfere,” the campaign said in an e-mail response to questions submitted by the Center for Michigan.

Snyder has sharply different views. He believes that taxpayers are already investing plenty to support a high-quality educational system. He cites a study by the American Legislative Exchange Council that showed Michigan ranking 18th in per-pupil expenditures and fourth in average teacher salaries but ranking 42nd in overall performance and 49th in ACT scores.

“Every child in our schools should be getting a great education every year, and we are failing at that. If you look at our funding, we are among the top 10 or 15 states,” he says. “We are among the bottom 10 or 15 in terms of outcome. That’s a flawed system.”

Snyder is opposed to making changes in Proposal A. Rather, he says, the state should be doing a better job of setting outcome goals, collecting data, assessing what’s working and not, and moving forward.

“Let’s get efficient about how we deliver education in our state and look at outcomes and results that are meaningful. We are not doing it with the kids,” he said in a Michigan Public Radio interview.

Snyder also is against options to allow local voters to approve property tax increases to provide more local funding. “At this time, raising Michigan taxes would be detrimental to economic recovery,” the Snyder campaign said in an e-mail. “We need to focus on reducing the tax burden on Michigan families and businesses.”

Consolidation of Services

Given the state’s budget problems, school districts aren’t likely to get a substantial boost in funding regardless of who’s elected governor. They’re under increasing pressure to do more with what they have.

Business Leaders for Michigan, for instance, advocates in its Michigan Turnaround Plan that the state increase funding for school districts that share services and reduce them for those that don’t.

Both Bernero and Snyder agree that school districts can and must do a better job of stretching the resources they have. Both strongly support expanding shared services to improve efficiency, create economies of scale and put more money in the classroom.

Snyder says Michigan schools need to restructure their service delivery models, which he says could save about $1 billion annually. He estimates that competitively bidding non-instructional services, such as bus, food and custodial services, could save between $200 million and $500 million. He supports legislation that was introduced in the Michigan Senate to require school districts to put transportation, food and custodial services out for bids.

Bernero says at least $300 million can be saved immediately with cooperation between school districts on things like transportation, computer and textbook purchases and administration. “The duplication of services that are found between neighboring school districts can provide real relief to our budgetary problems and put more money in the classrooms,” Bernero spokesman Cullen Schwarz said. “The governor can and should provide incentives to reward districts that increase efficiencies.”

In a question and answer session with the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, Bernero strongly opposed mandated competitive bids.

“As governor, I won’t rely on gimmicks like outsourcing of school jobs to solve our budget woes. Support staff are as essential to our education system as teachers,” Bernero said. “They are part of our schools culture and help nurture a positive learning environment.”

School Consolidation

Michigan has more than 550 public school districts, which critics say creates excessive and costly bureaucracies. But the consolidation of school districts requires approval by voters in both districts, and in practice, that virtually never happens.

Some reform advocates say that a new system should be put in place that would allow for such consolidations by a different mechanism. One proposal would empower the Michigan superintendent of public instruction to consolidate school districts if it would result in savings of more than 5 percent.

In an interview on Michigan Public Radio interview, Bernero seemed to support school district consolidation, though he hasn’t offered a plan for either encouraging or requiring it. “We have too many school districts around the state – 580 school districts for 83 counties. That doesn’t compute.”

Snyder says that school district consolidation is not a priority of his, that he would focus instead on consolidation of services.

“Some school districts can find tremendous savings by consolidating administrative costs, for some school districts, it may make sense for them to consolidate with another school district,” said Snyder spokesman Bill Nowling. “That should be an option to them. It might not work in all instances.”

Merit Pay and Tenure

Snyder’s philosophy of measurement, accountability and rewarding success includes an endorsement of merit pay. “Michigan needs to adopt a system of merit-based pay to recognize the teachers and schools that consistently perform above the acceptable standard,” his plan says, without defining “acceptable standard.”

Snyder says he also supports changes in teacher tenure laws making it easier for school administrators to remove failing teachers. “Successful teachers should be rewarded. Failing teachers should be given the tools to improve and succeed, and if they do not improve, corrective action should be taken,” Snyder said in an email.

Bernero doesn’t include merit pay in his Education is Economic Development plan. In response to questions from the Center for Michigan before the August primary, he said that “merit pay can be a valuable tool to reward good teachers, but it must be based on more than just test scores and it should be a matter of collective bargaining at the local level rather than a mandate.”

In practical terms, that makes it far less likely that merit pay would be implemented, since unions are wary of merit pay, saying that it can be divisive, unfair, and hurt staff morale.

Bernero believes that the current tenure laws are adequate. “School districts have four years to determine whether a teacher merits tenure,” he said in an email. “This is an adequate length of time to determine if a teacher is worth keeping.”