Yesterday, if the senate schedule held, the Senate Education Committee headed up by Sen. Phil Pavlov, entertained and possibly passed to the full senate, a complete package of utter nonsense (So-called Conversion Schools). Damaging and destroying our communities, this radical, unheard of ignorant overreach is again based on raw revenge, demeans and exposes these TeaPublican Senators as fools- dangerous to Michigan children, the foundations of public education, all dangerous to our futures.
Let's look over the rail and examine the non-sense proposal:
Sen. David Robertson: SB620 (Robertson) Education; public school academies; conversion schools...
Convoluted/Simpleton Rules for Confiscation of Neighborhood School Operations by Outsiders & Privateers:
Revise "the School Code to provide for the organization and administration of conversion schools, which would be public schools previously operated by a school district and converted under a contract issued by an authorizing body."
1. -- Require a petition to convert a school to be signed by at least 51% of the teachers at that school or at least 51% of the parents or guardians of pupils at the school.In a public small school with, let's say 10 teachers, 6 teachers could revolt and privatize the school, a small group of parents may do likewise.
2. -- Require an application to convert a school to be submitted to the board of the school district that included the school and, if that board did not approve the application, allow it to be submitted to another authorizing body.
The local school, previously belonging to and operated by the local public district, would be removed from public jurisdiction, supervision, and control. The neighborhood schools would be made into another faux public school: A private school funded with taxpayer moneys.
Charters are by law, in most cases, private schools -unless operated by directly by a college or a school or ISD district- schools that are funded with public tax dollars, but run willy nilly by private, for-profit operators. They are franchise schools or corporate schools. Faux Public Charters are private schools funded with public money, operating outside the control and purview of the local population.
The acrimony, destruction to student progress and education and accompanying disruption created by this Robertson "nonsense proposal" boarders on fantastical. It's just plain NUTS.
Mr. Robertson's proposal for "conversion schools" fronts for "the Republican-led effort (which) would throw all kinds of new powers to parents and charter schools. It would even let a district fill classrooms with teachers employed by private, for-profit companies."
What are these angry and aggressive TeaPublicans thinking? Rather, what are they doing out of rage?
Note: the local elected board of education can be leap-frogged and excluded from the control or loss of a school to the local public.
Sen. David Robertson is so intent on doing harm, that he is willing to go wild in his anti-public, anti-community crusade.
Conversion schools are schools of destruction and disillusion of the right of local citizens to own and control their local schools. To simply create a questionable legal legislative mechanism to remove a school from the public to private hands is A THEFT OF THE COMMON PROPERTY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD.
This proposed act allows for the introduction of educational management companies (including out-state corporations) which will be involved in the conversion school's operations.
Addressing the very real problems of the politics of Conversion Schools the proposal inserts these caveats:
1.)" A requirement that the board prohibit specifically identified family relationships between board members, individuals with an ownership interest in an educational management organization involved in the school's operation, officers or employees of such an organization, and employees of the school."A sampling of other Roberson concepts in his Proposal:
2.)" A requirement that the board prohibit any individual from being employed by the school in more than one full-time position and simultaneously being compensated at a full-time rate for each of those positions."
1.) Require a conversion school authorized by a school district to be located in the school that was converted and prohibit the district from charging rent, but make the school financially responsible for maintaining the facilitiesSOURCE: Senate Document "CONVERSION SCHOOLS S.B. 620: COMMITTEE SUMMARY"
2.) The bill also would include a school operated by a conversion school corporation in the Code's definition of "public school", and would include a conversion school in the definition of "public school academy".
3.) To obtain a contract to convert a public school operated by a school district to a conversion school, one or more people or a legal entity would have to apply to the school district and submit to the board of the district an application and a petition signed by at least 51% of the teachers employed by the school district at the school to be converted and/or at least 51% of the parents or legal guardian of the pupils enrolled in the school. The board would have to consider the petition and approve or deny it within 60 days. If the board denied the petition, it would have to issue a letter of denial to the applicant.
4.) Collective Bargaining: If a conversion school were authorized by the board of the school district that operated the school that was converted, the school district would be the employer of the employees regularly working at the conversion school, but the school and its employees would not be subject to collective bargaining agreements that applied to employees of the school district employed in similar classifications in schools that were not conversion schools.
If a "conversion"school were authorized by an authorizing body other than the board of the school district that had operated the school, the school district would not be the employer of employees regularly working at the conversion school and the school and those employees would not be subject to a collective bargaining agreement with the school district.
Footnote: David Robertson is the self-same individual who has taken up Snyder style Socialism Central Control: usurpation of local and community voice in the locals own affairs. Its one horrednous step too far:
Mr. Robertson sez, ""We need to empower the top executive to appoint more people ;who will go deeper into the bureaucracy," Robertson said. "THE HEART OF THE ISSUE IS POLITICAL POWER."
Blogger Eclectoblog states:
"If his (Robertson's) proposal to let the governor appoint 1% of the state government employees moves forward it would increase the current number by a factor of 4.5. Again, this is all about political power and ROBERTSON HAS BECOME SO INTOXICATED WITH HIS PARTY'S UNBRIDLED OVERREACH IN MICHIGAN THAT HE DOESN'T FEEL ANY NEED TO HIDE IT."
(emphasis added)
SOURCE: "Republican state senator Robertson wants Governor to have MORE power"
Just what are Mr. Robertson and the 'rogue' TeaPublicans up to? Let Susan Demas explain:
"It's hard for Republicans to make the case that they haven't singled out schools and teachers' unions in a host of policies this year. Legislation mandating public employees to pay more for health insurance had an opt-out clause for municipalities -- but schools are forced to participate. Teacher tenure reform once again dictates to school districts how it deals with employees, whereas local governments don't get any such edicts."
"And even this week, the Senate passed legislation limiting school board elections to November of even-numbered years. That saves money. But the Senate wasn't interested in saving more money by applying it to municipalities. They can still hold elections four times a year, every year.
"Because the hope is that it will be easier for conservative school board members to get elected when there's more than just school issues on the ballot. Another goal is to make it harder for schools to pass millages -- even though schools have few options as the Legislature swiped $1 billion from the School Aid Fund this year and passed new business taxes specifically designed to give schools less money.
"REPUBLICANS MAY HAVE THE VOTES TO KEEP BEATING THE MEA AND TEACHERS' UNIONS LIKE A DRUM. BUT THEY SHOULDN'T INSULT OUR INTELLIGENCE BY CLAIMING THAT THEY'RE JUST THINKING OF THE CHILDREN."
(emphasis added)
SOURCE: "With Right to Teach, Republicans' war with unions gets personal"
Why would Mr. Robertson do this?
"I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work in all these policy areas during the new year," Robertson said. "I'm confident we can make Michigan a place that businesses long to call home. I can't wait."
Add in his comment: "The heart of the issue is POLITICAL POWER." There you have it.
Mr. Robertson-Legislating Recklessly
One source states:
"Antisocial behavior may not always be related to some form of physical ailment or illness. Some people are just comfortable with living recklessly and form a bad habit of living carelessly and irresponsibly. This involves their own freedom of choice."
Being interpolated, Sen. Dave Roberson is more than comfortable with viewing himself as super important, and going to the limit and beyond in his anti-public crusade, he is anti-community and should be shunned and discredited-he is far too irresponsible to represent his own district, much less inflict such nonsense on the state via his exalted view of the power of his office as a extreme ideologically oriented state senator.
Original.
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