Tag Archive for Schools

Cronyism, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Taxes

Detroit Schools Bailout Opposed

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MRG Poll Shows Michigan Voters Strongly Oppose Using Taxpayer Money for DPS’ $715 Million Bailout.

bailoutsSome information from the Michigan Association of Public School Academies

MAPSA notes that the the poll is very timely, because the bailout is up for a vote today.

As expected, Michigan voters strongly oppose using taxpayer money to pay off the Detroit Public Schools’ $715 million in debt, according to a new poll by the Marketing Resource Group (MRG). The poll of 600 likely Michigan voters, commissioned by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, was conducted Feb. 22-27.

Statewide, only 33 percent of voters favor using taxpayer money to pay off DPS’ debt, while 56 percent oppose it (with most of those saying they “strongly” oppose it). Even among Detroit voters, sentiments are almost evenly split, with 40 percent favoring the bailout and 38 percent opposing it. In the entire Metro Detroit region, the bailout also isn’t popular, with only 37 percent favoring it and 52 percent opposing it.

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Humor in Michigan, Michigan

That’s Gonna Hurt.

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It's 'count day!' - This won't take long.

The joy of living in the hinterland!

Snow days are wonderful if you are somewhere between the ages of 5 and 18. However, when the buck is delivered based on attendance for the district?

count-day

D’oh!

(PS: count day will be tomorrow)

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Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Michigan, Rent Seeking, Republicans

The City Of Perpetual Gifting

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Detroit Public Schools continues the fiscal drain on Michigan Taxpayers.

mich-holeThe gravity exerted by SE Michigan is nothing short of incredible.

Bailouts of Arts, Pensions, Water systems, and of course the cherry on the sundae, school debt.  From today’s Cap-Con, Summarized here:

“Various bailout plans are currently under discussion in Lansing as an alternative to entering federal bankruptcy court. One plan pitched by Gov. Rick Snyder comes with a $710 million price tag.”

Don’t make any plans with that mattress money folks.

 

 

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Michigan, Michigan Politics

How It begins

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Michigan school districts have more than a few tricks up their sleeves.

Or maybe how it might end?

What we see in proposed legislation by Michigan State Senator Darwin Booher is a natural extension of what happens to a legislator’s mind in Lansing.  Senate bill 481 attempts to modify the “Recreational authorities act;” 2000 PA 321, so that school districts can then create their own ‘authority,’ build facilities, and hit the taxpayers for up to a mil with yet another creative tool of extortion.

Why would school’s need such a thing you ask? Why would a school district want, or need to create a new agency that can generate new  revenue for pools, entertainment complexes, sports venues, etc?

Hilarious question, right? However, as has been pointed out before, the formula (post proposal A) has changed.  Very much.

“Underneath the perceived troubles in funding public education is an emerging reality. Because of the nature of taxpayer funding, and the struggle for local school districts to grab their ‘fair share’ of Michigan’s education budget pie, expenses that were once built into operating budgets are now separated from them, and allowed to be levied through millage requests. These building fund requests allow for purchase of new infrastructure, equipment, and maintenance.

Unfortunately, once the funding had begun in this direction, it quickly became a running operative mechanism that allowed all manner of abuse to begin. Routine maintenance became the recipient of improvement monies, and improvement requests increased to fund facilities that went beyond necessary functionality. The latest request including a component that would have built a $26.5 million performing arts facility. (including all aspects of construction) The proposal for a declining student population at a cost of was easily declined by voters.”

All of what used to be covered under simple operations cost, has been partitioned into new funding paradigms.

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Conservative News, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Proposal 15-1, Rent Seeking, Taxes

More Info On Proposal One

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The contentious May issue is complicated, but understandable. It just takes time.

There is a ton of information to be shared on the road funding issue.

TV-ADSRightMi.com has pointed out many of the flaws, and the bad policy associated with the late night lame-duck session passed monstrosity voters will be asked to approve May 5th.   We pointed out the obvious in a graphic (to the right)  only 24 hours ago, and as of this writing, the graphic has been viewed over 2200 times on Facebook alone.  (still climbing fast) We invite those who are here looking for information on this constitutional disaster to sift through a few pages on our site for all you need to know about the single biggest tax increase many of Michiganians will face in their lives.

And the argument is fierce. On one side we have the shills for the road industry pimping the YES vote, and the other side we have families who don’t much feel like picking out the switch so ‘daddy’ government can beat them down with an additional $500 a year in taxes.

Then there are the studies.  Like the one published by the Mackinac Center’s James Hohman:

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All the Other Stuff, Cronyism, Michigan, Opinion, Taxes

It’s The Little Things

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Like when a district superintendent mishandles a simple charter school arrangement to a point of incompetency.

That turn into the big things.

superintendent-inkedWhat happens when a failing public school government becomes financially envious of a successful charter operation it oversees?  It tries to take it over. That is the unspoken punch line in a story carried by Capital Confidential last year.

“Livonia Public Schools is the authorizer of Hinoki International School, but the school district now is moving to start its own Japanese magnet school in the same building used by Hinoki.”

In 2014, Livonia Public Schools used its power to put Hinoki charter school out of business by ending the school’s building lease one year before the charter authorization was to expire.  Hinoki, a Japanese immersion ‘magnet school’ was in a growth phase, and showed financial strength that appeared attractive to the struggling LPS superintendent Randy Liepa.

Spurred on by a disgruntled Hinoki principal, Liepa and LPS cancelled the lease for the immersion program, while at the same time used the exact same location to start a district run Japanese immersion school. This of course left Hinoki, (the successful school that was growing)  without a building. It also meant that the school would lose its charter authorization from the Livonia Public Schools in a 6-1 vote.

“Gosh, so sorry..  We really hate to see you leave..”

Hinoki did not operate for the 2014-2015 school year.

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Michigan Politics

Michigan Open Carry to initiate lawsuit against K-12 school district

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Michigan Open Carry is going on the offense!

In a closed session, the Board of Directors for Michigan Open Carry has voted to partner with a plaintiff who was threatened with trespass for open carry of a holstered pistol at a public school. Details are going to be sparse for now given that the suit will be filed in two months (a strategic decision by the BoD).

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All the Other Stuff, Cronyism, Elections, Michigan

Payola Or Pretense?

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Is The Traverse City School District Ignoring A Gift, Or Is That 'Gift' Completely Valueless?

What does the largest government body North of Clare do when it sees a case of vendor provided payoff to an employee?

It blesses the transaction.  <– yes, that is the punchline

As yet another example of misplaced priorities, and a misunderstanding of the roles they play, the Traverse City Area public School board trustees have approved a ‘settlement’ which involves a payment from the soon-to-retire superintendent Stephen Cousins, and a gift from one of the school’s vendors to make up the difference between the $25,000 owed to the school district by the superintendent and his $14,800 cash reimbursement component.

First a recap of the facts as we know them.

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Michigan Politics

Why Does This Remind Me Of Our Local School Board?

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Face it, your local school board doesn’t give two whits what you have to say.

Whether it is a complaint of how they are spending taxpayer resources, common core, or the introduction of inappropriate materials to our youth, they just don’t want to hear it.  In Traverse City, parents have been ignored when sexually explicit curriculum was given to their adolescent children, and that curriculum was allowed to stand.

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