SPECIAL REPORT: What guv candidates say they’ll do about education

By Chris Andrews

Michigan voters are restless for change and looking for a new governor who will lead us in a “Race to the Top” economically. Or, at the very least, a race from the bottom.

But while the seven candidates have focused much of their campaigns on jobs and taxes, employers making decisions about creating or keeping jobs in Michigan are also demanding a more educated work force. And by many measures — high school and college graduation rates, test scores and college degrees — we come up short.

“Student achievement is at best mediocre. And that ultimately is what matters,” Lou Glazer says bluntly. “We don’t have enough kids graduating from high schools, we don’t have enough kids going to college. Of the kids that go to college, too many of them need remediation.”

Glazer is the president of Michigan Future Inc., a nonpartisan think tank seeking ideas for returning Michigan to prosperity in a knowledge-based economy. He sees a direct link between education and prosperity. Michigan’s per-capita income of $34,953 ranked 36th among states in 2008, while the 24.75 percent of adults with four-year college degrees ranked 34th.

He says Michigan policymakers have taken some important steps to improve educational outcomes during the administration of Gov. Jennifer Granholm. New high school graduation requirements moved the state from the most lax to among the most rigorous high school curriculum standards in the nation.

But there were also significant steps back. Cuts in K-12 funding have pushed some school districts to the brink of insolvency. State leaders dawdled before agreeing on reforms that proved inadequate to win federal Race to the Top funds.

Granholm and the Legislature have repeatedly cut higher education — more than any other state and undermining the governor’s goal of doubling the number of college graduates in a decade. Glazer said the cuts are damaging a university system that is perhaps the state’s greatest asset. And the colleges themselves are in turn raising tuiton and making higher ed less affordable.

The challenge for Michigan’s next governor will be to get better educational results in a time of limited resources and continued budget crisis. Most estimates put next year’s budget shortfall at about $2 billion.

None of the five Republicans or two Democrats hoping to be the state’s next governor is calling for general tax increases. And in fact, many of the Republicans advocate deep tax cuts as a means of jump-starting the economy. They say school districts simply need to do a better job with the resources they have.

“Taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth, and our kids are not learning the skills they need to compete in the 21st century economy,” says Attorney General Mike Cox, one of the GOP candidates.

There is no shortage of ideas about what’s needed to improve school outcomes at any level. Merit pay for successful teachers or successful schools. Consolidation of school districts or school services to reduce bureaucracies and focus money in the classroom. Health care reforms to reduce insurance costs. Returning to the 180-day school year, less than many states and countries but more than schools offer now. Protecting higher education funding. Restoring scholarships.

The Center for Michigan posed a series of questions to the candidates for governor about their recipe for improving schools and colleges. All but U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, who largely advocates local control, responded in interviews or in writing. Here’s what they had to say.

School Funding

State aid for public schools has declined from $11.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $10.8 billion in fiscal 2010, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. Assorted cuts, along with growing health care and pension costs, have put pressure on schools, in some cases leading to layoffs and school closings. Schools are cutting back on field trips, shrinking the school year and charging families for their kids to play sports to help balance the books.

Even so, the state ranks relatively high in K-12 spending, and its teachers are relatively well compensated. According to a National Education Association report issued in 2009, the state ranked 23rd in spending, and teacher salaries 11th highest in the nation.

The Republican candidates agree that more money isn’t the answer. Businessman Rick Snyder says that “oversized, inefficient and wasteful structures” in the school system hurt Michigan’s ability to compete. He advocates better data collection to measure improvement and hold school districts accountable. He would tie educational funding to the quality of classroom instruction and seek contributions from the philanthropic community.

State Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, says “there’s no way schools are going to get more money.” He says that reforming health care costs in Medicaid and public employee benefits is the single most important action the state can take to protect money for schools.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, a Republican, says the key is reforms that bring more money into the classroom. He would require school districts to competitively bid out secondary services such as busing and food service on an intermediate school district level, and move all future teachers to 401(k)-style defined contribution pension programs.

Cox also supports defined contribution retirement plans for new teachers and believes that creating a state-run health care plan for teachers would also free up more money for teaching.

House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) is the architect of the proposal for a state-run health care plan for public employees and believes that it, as well as recently passed retirement reforms, will help education dollars bring better results.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, his Democratic rival, said stable and equitable school funding are vital to Michigan’s future and vowed to protect K-12 funding.

U.S. Rep. Hoekstra has proposed an educational tax credit that would be available for families who pay tuition to private schools as well as for some expenses of public school students.

Preschool Programs

Advocates of preschool, especially for disadvantaged students, argue that it costs more to not offer programs than to offer them. Research by the Minnesota-based Wilder Foundation shows the public eventually pays in crime, welfare, health care expenses and child care when low-income students aren’t prepared for kindergarten. Other studies show that those without kindergarten or more likely to repeat school years and eventually drop out.

But politicians have had a hard time finding the money to expand preschool for more than two decades. Only 18 percent of Michigan 4-year-olds took part in preschool in 2008, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. This year, candidates for governor all see value in preschool, and most say they will find some way to fund it, although the plans aren’t specific.

Attorney General Cox said the best way to get more money for preschool programs is to reform school employee benefits and pensions, and to consolidate non-instructional services like busing and food services at the intermediate school district level.

Sheriff Bouchard said consolidation and competitively bidding support services will save money to ensure that preschool programs are fully funded.

But Sen. George said the state simply can’t afford to expand preschool programs, especially of taxes are cut as his Republican rivals propose.. “There is no way to fund it now. I don’t have a plan to do it because we are broke,” he said.

Snyder said the state “needs a strong pre-K program that reaches out to children during their most formative years to bolster social, emotional and cognitive development. He says the plans can be paid for through his “Value for Money” budgeting plan and by support from the non-profit and private sectors. As a leader in the United Way, he said he helped support a public-private partnership to bolster preschool programs in South Dakota.

Mayor Bernero said he would make expansion of early childhood education a priority. He says in his experience as Lansing mayor, he has balanced the state budget by making tough choices.

House Speaker Dillon said preschool is the best investment the state can make for young children and points to studies that show a $1 investment in preschool saves taxpayers $17 in the long run. He says savings from efficiencies can be used to pay for preschool.

Local Options

When lawmakers enacted the school finance reforms commonly known as Proposal A in 1993, they eliminated most of the ability of school districts to ask local voters to raise taxes for school operations. The idea was to keep property taxes down and limit funding disparities between school districts.

Since then, there have been periodic suggestions to restore a local option. The Republican candidates are strongly opposed. “I know raising taxes is not the answer,” said Sheriff Bouchard, who signed the Americans for Reform’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.”

Mayor Bernero would let local residents decide. “If local voters choose to approve additional millages to support their schools, I do not believe the state should interfere,” he said.

Speaker Dillon said “we should look at whether or not we need to update how we fund our schools through Proposal A, and make sure that law is the working adequately to fund our educational needs in the 21st century.”

Merit Pay

With a few rare exceptions in small communities like Oscoda and Au Gres-Sims, Michigan school districts have steered clear of merit pay for teachers, in large part because of opposition from teacher unions that warn such systems will be divisive and reflect favoritism. But supporters, who say pay for performance enccourages and rewards excellence, have an importnat ally in President Obama, who included it in the criteria for federal Race to the Top funds.

All of the candidates favor it, but in different flavors.

“Merit pay is a way to positively push teachers and principals to better our schools,” Attorney General Cox said. He also said that school districts should be able to use merit pay to recruit and retain teachers in demanding subject areas such as calculus or physics.

Sheriff Bouchard, who once served as chair of the Senate Education Committee, said that, “nothing demoralizes an excellent educator more than seeing other teachers retaining positions and obtaining more pay because they been in the system another year.”

Sen. George said he not only supports merit pay but voted for it as part of legislation to support Michigan’s bid for federal Race to the Top funding.

Businessman Snyder says he supports merit pay “to recognize the teachers and schools that consistently achieve strong results.” He told a Republican gathering in Macomb County he likes the idea of a bonus pool for teachers and administrators who work as a team.

House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford) said he would explore pilot programs for how to distribute money most effectively, either by individual or building.

Mayor Bernero, who is backed by the Michigan Education Association, says 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 state mandate,” he said. “Additional criteria that should be considered are peer evaluation, student absence rates and parental involvement.”

School Consolidation

Michigan has more than 550 school districts, which critics say is inherently bureaucratic and inefficient. But the consolidation of school districts is rare, in part because communities are concerned that they will lose their football teams, their identity or local control. The consolidation of school districts requires approval by voters in both districts. It almost never happens.

“There’s no way to justify the number of school districts any more, the bus systems, the libraries, the administrators and custodial services, so there’s a great need to consolidate,” Sen. George says. He is the only candidate who supports a Constitutional Convention — voters will decide in November whether to hold one — which could reform the process for school consolidation.

Sheriff Bouchard says he supports consolidation of school districts and says the state should offer incentives to districts “to consolidate where it makes financial and geographic sense.”

Attorney General Cox says the state should encourage school districts to either combine services or consolidate by providing additional state aid to districts that are working to lower costs.

Businessman Snyder said school district consolidation is not a priority but consolidating services is. “Competitively bidding non-instructional services in public schools could save $200 to $500 million annually by introducing best practices and eliminating waste,” he said.

Speaker Dillon says he would create a commission to recommend incentives for school districts to consider consolidation.

Bernero said he supports consolidating administrative and purchasing services “to create economies of scale, divert savings to our classrooms and allow our teachers to teach.”

School Calendar

Last year, a special report by the Center for Michigan revealed a dirty little secret. The 180-day school year has become a myth. In a move to help school districts reduce costs, the Legislature changed the school year requirements from number of days, to number of hours, 1098, beginning in the 2003-04 school year. By adding a few minutes to the class day, school officials were able to reduce the number of days in class by a week or more.

Michigan School Superintendent Mike Flanagan, among others, says it’s a move in the wrong direction at a time when developing a globally competitive workforce is crucial. Some countries, such as Korea and Japan, require 220 days or more for their students.

Among the gubernatorial candidates, Attorney General Cox is the only one who advocates for a return to the 180-day “or more” school year. He says there is no money available in the short run to increase the school aid fund, but he says schools can achieve other savings through such things as consolidating services and reforming employee benefits.

Speaker Dillon says the state “may need to look at reestablishing a minimum number of days,” as well as altering the lengthy summer school break. State law in Michigan bans school districts from beginning school in the fall before Labor Day, a measure pushed by the tourism industry.

The other candidates are content to let the locals decide how to manage their school day and school year.

“I support the shift from days to hours because it provides more flexibility for local school districts and the community they serve to determine what works best for their students,” Mayor Bernero said. Bouchard, George and Snyder agree.

Higher Education

Historically, Michigan invested in, and benefited from what is widely regarded as one of the best public higher education systems in the country. Ironically, most of that investment came at a time when a college degree was unnecessary for a good paying job in Michigan. For decades, high school graduates or even dropouts could land good paying factory jobs at auto plants.

Now the good paying unskilled jobs have all but disappeared, and Michigan residents need post-high school degrees or training more than ever. During the past decade, however, Michigan has treated higher education like families might a premium cable station — an easy place to cut when times get tight.

Higher education has been cut almost 14 percent this decade, according to the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan — the sharpest reduction in the nation. Per-capita spending for higher education is $258, well below the national average of $292. Minnesota, for example, spends more on higher education, has lower unemployment, a higher percentage of college graduates and higher per-capital income.

University leaders are hoping for stronger support from the next governor.

“The first thing we’d like to see is, we want an advocate,” said Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council. “We want someone who will stand up and talk about our 15 public universities and their importance to the state, their importance to economic development, … that we are catalysts for Michigan’s transition to a knowledge economy.

“The second part of this would be, back it up with the budget.”

Many of the candidates say they value higher education, but don’t have specific plans or promises to boost revenue.

Attorney General Cox said he would restore $185 million in recent higher education funding reductions to return to 2002 levels. He would also base future funding of universities on a model that “will reward schools that do the best job of educating their students. I will also tie increased aid to tuition reforms.”

Sheriff Bouchard said higher education is critical to returning jobs to the state and said, “We must find cost-effective ways to deliver the same critical services faster, better and cheaper.”

Sen. George has voted to cut higher education spending in order for the state to balance the checkbook and remain solvent. And he says the financial problems will only grow more severe under plans by his Republican opponents to cut taxes by $1 billion or more.

“We are nearly insolvent, and their plans would make us insolvent,” he said. “I wish I had good news and could say I have a way to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the universities, but I’m not going to make the state insolvent.”

Businessman Snyder offered no specific plan but said, “While spending is not always a great indication of results, it is unacceptable that the state spends more on corrections than on universities and financial aid combined.”

The Democrats, Bernero and Dillon, both said higher education should be a priority but made no specific commitment. Dillon, who has a proposal to put public employees, including university staff, in a state-managed health plan, said, “We must continue to work with our colleges and universities to make sure that they are effectively using their resources and tuition costs are reasonable.”

The Cost of College

Last year, state lawmakers made it harder for college students to pay for their schooling when they eliminated the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which provided up to $4,000 to Michigan students.

Speaker Dillon has proposed restoring the scholarship, but as a refundable income tax credit for students who work in Michigan for at least one year after graduation.

Mayor Bernero said he would “find a way to fund the Promise Scholarship by making it a top budget priority.” He has also proposed a state bank that would make low-interest loans available to students.

Sheriff Bouchard says he believes the funding should be restored and that he can do it through smarter budgeting. “I believe a promise is a promise and will use a finetooth comb to go through the budget and find areas where we can save money and then reallocate funding to the Michigan Promise Scholarship,” he said.

Attorney General Cox also promised to restore the grants and, as an additional step, would allow Michigan taxpayers to directly deposit income tax refunds into Michigan Education Savings Program accounts.

Businessman Snyder said the Michigan Promise Scholarships should be treated as promises. He would restore them but on a needs basis. He would apply the same standards to Michigan Tuition Grants at private colleges.

Sen. George said restoring the Promise grants “is a wish, but it ain’t going to happen.” He said one of the keys to making college affordable is creating a more efficient system. The current system, which includes 15 constitutionally autonomous universities, lends itself to duplication and overlap, he said. He said this is an example of the type of issue that could be addressed at a constitutional convention.

Hoekstra didn’t respond to questions posed by the Center for Michigan but offers “Pete’s Principles on Education — Local Control of Schools” on his Web site. It suggests a belief that state policies won’t lead to better schools.

“We must improve elementary and secondary education by reinstating parental involvement, expanding flexibility, adding competition and eliminating bureaucratic barriers,” the site says.
“Faceless bureaucrats who don’t know the names of the children in our schools, cannot possibly respond to the unique needs of students in local school districts.”

It cites awards from the Education Freedom Coalition, the Home School Legal Defense Fund and the American Association of Christian Schools.