State Superintendent propoeses changing from district to county-wide school systems.

[313WX]

I'm 100% for this.

Florida does it this way too. There's just too much waste with the way we currently do things.

Agreed. This will also move us closer towards merging municipalities altogether.

[firstandten]

Yep, we should certainly model our education system after Florida.

Don't be so quick to down Florida's k-12 while not the greatest, in some areas they test out better than Michigan

[mwilbert]

People 'liking' their schools doesn't matter.

It does if you are asking, as Detroitnerd was, why people would oppose making changes to the current arrangements. They oppose changes because they like the current arrangements.

Your point seems to be that either they cannot now or soon will not be able to afford their current school establishments and so will have to change regardless of their preferences. Perhaps that is true, but I think that the financial situations of different municipalities are quite disparate, and a lot of them may feel that they can afford and would prefer the status quo, since, as I say, mostly they like it.

[Hermod]

I remember reading a study a year or so back in which they found that as school districts grew in size, they became more efficient up to a certain point and that when they passed that point, they began to lose efficiency because of bureaucratic bloat.

[mwilbert]

I remember reading a study a year or so back in which they found that as school districts grew in size, they became more efficient up to a certain point and that when they passed that point, they began to lose efficiency because of bureaucratic bloat

There are only a handful of Michigan counties where that is likely to be a problem. The thing about this proposal that doesn't really make sense is that it seems to treat Alcona County [[largest city with about 500 people and which already has consolidated schools, I'm pretty sure), Marquette County [[largest city 20000 people and which I'm pretty sure doesn't) and Wayne County [[largest city something like 700000 people) as comparable entities.

[bailey]

There are only a handful of Michigan counties where that is likely to be a problem. The thing about this proposal that doesn't really make sense is that it seems to treat Alcona County ...., Marquette County,... and Wayne County... as comparable entities.

It doesn't make sense to you because you are a racist or a 1%er [[likely both).

[mwilbert]

It doesn't make sense to you because you are a racist or a 1%er [[likely both).

That must be it.

[Hermod]

I would think that a system of three high schools and their associated feeder elementary and middle schools might be the optimum size keeping the superintendent's staff "lean and mean". The superintendent could be out and about in his schools and not be in an ivory tower downtown surrounded by "curriculum specialists" and administrators who largely found that they hated teaching but still wanted to be on the school payroll gravy train. You might have shared services between districts to achive economies in joint purchases, etc.

[firstandten]

I would think that a system of three high schools and their associated feeder elementary and middle schools might be the optimum size keeping the superintendent's staff "lean and mean". The superintendent could be out and about in his schools and not be in an ivory tower downtown surrounded by "curriculum specialists" and administrators who largely found that they hated teaching but still wanted to be on the school payroll gravy train. You might have shared services between districts to achive economies in joint purchases, etc.

The county in Florida that I'm familiar with has 6 HS five of which are just average but one is very good, a school of choice and considered one of the top high schools in the country. There doesn't seem to be a lot of drama with the schools there. Palm Beach county however does seem to be a bit unwieldy as well as Miami-Dade.

[guito13]

This could be advantageous for the reason of more tax revenue but I don't see it solving the problem of unequal development. Look at Chicago where North side schools are great but South and West side schools have the same problems as Detroit, along with a massive wave of closings and charterizations. This means tackling the main problem with education: poverty.

Poverty is NOT the main reason for the substandard performance of many of today's students. Rather, it is the lack of parental support for their children's education.

Some parents think of school as "Free Daycare" for their kids and nothing more. I have heard and seen this attitude displayed many many times. Guess what, those students are usually the ones who are behind.

Other parents, have the "immaculate child" syndrome where they feel like little tommy, tyrone, or cesar is perfect and his bad performance is due to the teachers inability to teach, dislike of their child, etc.

Other parents have the sense of entitlement where they feel like they and their children do not need school to get by. This may be due to the current handouts they receive or the job they got and are not protected under due to union policies.

The list goes on and on but the bottom line is that PARENTS need to TELL their children that school IS IMPORTANT. They need to BE INVOLVED in some way to back up their words with actions.

The worst part; this behavior propagates itself to the students, their peers, and the other parents. It is like a nasty virus that spreads rapidly.

I see/hear this first hand every day. People need to stop trying to blame others and look within to solve this one. While there are other problems as well, this being corrected will provide the largest improvement for the students.

[Danny]

Bad ideal! its too big, too costly, and with problems between playing race cards with kids. That proposal will never pass the republican dominate Michigan legislature.

[corktownyuppie]

Poverty is NOT the main reason for the substandard performance of many of today's students. Rather, it is the lack of parental support for their children's education.

Some parents think of school as "Free Daycare" for their kids and nothing more. I have heard and seen this attitude displayed many many times. Guess what, those students are usually the ones who are behind.

Other parents, have the "immaculate child" syndrome where they feel like little tommy, tyrone, or cesar is perfect and his bad performance is due to the teachers inability to teach, dislike of their child, etc.

Other parents have the sense of entitlement where they feel like they and their children do not need school to get by. This may be due to the current handouts they receive or the job they got and are not protected under due to union policies.

The list goes on and on but the bottom line is that PARENTS need to TELL their children that school IS IMPORTANT. They need to BE INVOLVED in some way to back up their words with actions.

The worst part; this behavior propagates itself to the students, their peers, and the other parents. It is like a nasty virus that spreads rapidly.

I see/hear this first hand every day. People need to stop trying to blame others and look within to solve this one. While there are other problems as well, this being corrected will provide the largest improvement for the students.

Well, it's chicken/egg. Does poverty create the culture of entitlement? Does the culture of entitlement create the culture of poverty? The two are definitely linked, and it seems inextricably so.

So we can say that parents need to be involved and tell their children that school is important. But if no one ever told them that, and they don't know to do that, then the question is how do we stop the cycle?

I can see why one would blame them and want them to change. But we need to "level up" one and figure out how to teach them to change.

[guito13]

Well, it's chicken/egg. Does poverty create the culture of entitlement? Does the culture of entitlement create the culture of poverty? The two are definitely linked, and it seems inextricably so.

So we can say that parents need to be involved and tell their children that school is important. But if no one ever told them that, and they don't know to do that, then the question is how do we stop the cycle?

I can see why one would blame them and want them to change. But we need to "level up" one and figure out how to teach them to change.

Well the current attempts at getting parents involved are definitely faulty. When we are at the point where districts have to have "prizes" involved to get parents to come to conferences, there is an issue. Society as a whole should all be aware that at least a basic education is CRUCIAL to any job. It says something that ANYONE would think that education is a bad thing.

Solving that "entitlement" culture is pretty easy, anyone who is getting something should be providing something in return [[if they are capable). People always bitch and complain about this but it would work and its fair. You get $100 a week for food, knit 5 blankets in return. You get a $300 a month housing subsidy, great, work 16 hours a week for habitat for humanity. But of course, that is unfair if we implemented something like that.....

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

While I understand some small districts might need to be consolidated for economic reasons, I think this plan is a terrible idea. If I were in Western Wayne County I would not want the non-educating trolls that run DPS having ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the good schools many communities have.

Different communities have different standards for what they want and need in schools, even within the same county. Not to mention different amounts of wealth to spend on it. I think lumping entire counties into single school districts will increase [[not cut) the number of bureaucrats working in the school system; lead to much slower innovations in the school system; and lead to a more generalized curriculum with less community input.

Every kid in the state should get a voucher and be able to spend that voucher at the school his parents think is best, and best value. Any unspent amount in a voucher should be redeemed upon graduation as a college scholarship.

[Hypestyles]

a revised statewide public funding model needs to be addressed, and revised statewide standards on achievement metrics. just merging, with the intent of "getting rid of all the corrupt admins" isn't enough.

no more packed warehouses of unused supplies. no more individual toilet paper requests. no more urban classrooms with 10-year old books and not enough to go around.

[Novine]

"The problem is that many districts won't consolidate and won't pay for the costs themselves. In tough times, people may make choices they don't 'like'."

You may have had a point prior to the passage of Proposal A. But since then, districts have very limited options for asking residents to pay more for schools. Local districts are largely at the mercy of the state when it comes to funding.