This is a pretty noteworthy story. It starts off in a routine way. Parents sue Northport, Michigan school district over the IEP for their special needs child.
Then it veers off into Wonderland:
1. The hearing has been going on since late October 2007;
2. The superintendent expected 47 witnesses and 600 pieces of evidence to be presented
3. The father of the student in question is a member of the school board of the district he's suing;
4. And the residents of the town are trying to recall him!
The town recalled the father from the school board this week. They didn't buy his idea that he was a watchdog over the school district.
This is a town of only 648 people! The school district serves 150 students! The entire budget is $3.5 million.
Here's the best part, and this should chill even the blood of our Cold-Miser Emperor: "In its 2007-08 budget, the Northport board originally set aside $5,000 for legal costs for the district. In early December it increased that amount to $280,000 and has budgeted $120,000 for the 2008-09 school year, most of which would be used in an appeal depending on how the administrative law judge rules.
The district’s liability insurance provider, SET/SEG, covered the district for the first $100,000 in costs related to suit, but further costs are the district’s responsibility."
That's the costs for one student's legal challenge. Ouch!
School Board Member Ousted Over Special Education Lawsuit
Those of you who have followed the blog for a while know that I've been mesmerized with the goings-on in a tiny Michigan town where a school board member was suing his own district over his son's individualized education program.
The case at the one-school, 150-student Northport district, dragged on for months and could cost the district $250,000 if it loses.
Now, the board member, Alan Woods, has been recalled, by a decisive 2-to-1 margin. Here's an article where both the recall initiator and Woods make their respective arguments. His argument that he is trying to be a watchdog over the district clearly did not resonate.
Woods said that the fact he's not in office any more won't stop his fight. A ruling on the case is expected in September.
Posted by Christina Samuels on August 29, 2008 2:26 PM
---------------------------------------------------------
Big Trouble in a Little District
A leisurely search through Topix led me to a fairly dry article about a Michigan family that is suing a school district over an individualized education dispute. Pretty routine, right?
But this caught my eye: "In its 2007-08 budget, the Northport board originally set aside $5,000 for legal costs for the district. In early December it increased that amount to $280,000 and has budgeted $120,000 for the 2008-09 school year, most of which would be used in an appeal depending on how the administrative law judge rules."
Wow! Sounds like things are getting a little out of hand, especially since the one-school district's budget is about $3.5 million in total. So I started reading back in the archives of the delightfully-titled Leelanau Enterprise and learned:
1. The hearing has been going on since late October 2007;
2. The superintendent expected 47 witnesses and 600 pieces of evidence to be presented (though I can't tell if that happened);
3. The father of the student in question is a member of the school board of the district he's suing;
4. And the residents of the town are trying to recall him!
That's got to make for some chilly school board meetings. Pretty exciting stuff for a town of 648 people. I'm riveted. Thank goodness the newspaper archives are free.
Posted by Christina Samuels on June 19, 2008 6:00 PM
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
Milwaukee Public Schools ordered to pay $450,000 in legal fees
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Milwaukee Public Schools must pay just more than $450,000 to the legal staff representing plaintiffs in a class-action suit over how the district serves students with special needs, a federal judge has ordered.
and Virginia this month.
[Moderator Note: Also check this previous post on the Milwaukee Public School special education lawsuit]
Texas Education Agency reviewing contract with Princeton Review testing company after security lapse
Dallas Morning News
By TERRENCE STUTZ
AUSTIN - Texas Education Agency officials are reviewing their new student data contract with the Princeton Review after the education testing company accidentally disclosed personal data and test scores of tens of thousands of students in Florida and Virginia this month.
[Moderator Note: This is why volunteers should not possess or review schools data]
"In mathematics, when you see what they are asked to do, there is so much vocabulary, so many concepts you have to get through language,"
Slumping math scores among middle school students prompt creative solutions
South CoastToday.com
With MCAS test results showing slumping middle school math performance across the state and SouthCoast, local school districts are finding creative ways to increase math instruction
Obama, the Next Education President?
Allen Jan Baird Ph.D.
Guest Columnist EducationNews.org
If Barack Obama is elected, what might we expect as he tries to become the new "education president"? It is important to understand that a President Obama would soon face the same school environment that previous education presidents have faced. According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the "nation's report card", reading scores for nine, thirteen, and seventeen year olds are basically where there were in 1970, with less than one third currently reading at "proficiency levels".
Rick MacArthur: "You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America"
Democracy Now
As the Democratic National Convention begins in Denver, we speak to Harper's publisher Rick MacArthur on his new book You Can't Be President. MacArthur says that the popular notion that any American can become president only reinforces the "destructive national delusion that widespread, up-from-the-ground, truly popular democracy, both political and economic, really exists in America." To assume that, he says, is equal to believing that Santa Claus exists.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Milwaukee Public Schools must pay just more than $450,000 to the legal staff representing plaintiffs in a class-action suit over how the district serves students with special needs, a federal judge has ordered.
and Virginia this month.
[Moderator Note: Also check this previous post on the Milwaukee Public School special education lawsuit]
Texas Education Agency reviewing contract with Princeton Review testing company after security lapse
Dallas Morning News
By TERRENCE STUTZ
AUSTIN - Texas Education Agency officials are reviewing their new student data contract with the Princeton Review after the education testing company accidentally disclosed personal data and test scores of tens of thousands of students in Florida and Virginia this month.
[Moderator Note: This is why volunteers should not possess or review schools data]
"In mathematics, when you see what they are asked to do, there is so much vocabulary, so many concepts you have to get through language,"
Slumping math scores among middle school students prompt creative solutions
South CoastToday.com
With MCAS test results showing slumping middle school math performance across the state and SouthCoast, local school districts are finding creative ways to increase math instruction
Obama, the Next Education President?
Allen Jan Baird Ph.D.
Guest Columnist EducationNews.org
If Barack Obama is elected, what might we expect as he tries to become the new "education president"? It is important to understand that a President Obama would soon face the same school environment that previous education presidents have faced. According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the "nation's report card", reading scores for nine, thirteen, and seventeen year olds are basically where there were in 1970, with less than one third currently reading at "proficiency levels".
Rick MacArthur: "You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America"
Democracy Now
As the Democratic National Convention begins in Denver, we speak to Harper's publisher Rick MacArthur on his new book You Can't Be President. MacArthur says that the popular notion that any American can become president only reinforces the "destructive national delusion that widespread, up-from-the-ground, truly popular democracy, both political and economic, really exists in America." To assume that, he says, is equal to believing that Santa Claus exists.
Duquesne teachers to go on strike
From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Remember the Dusquesne district that was taken over in 2000? How are things going? Ummm...not so well.
The high school closed in 2007. The teachers are woefully underpaid. There's been five administrations in the seven years since state takeover.
Makes Morrisville look positively rock-solid by comparison.
Duquesne teachers to go on strike Tuesday
By Daveen Rae Kurutz
TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Saturday, August 30, 2008
Teachers in the Duquesne City School District will be on strike starting Tuesday morning.
The teachers' union informed the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the governing body for the distressed district, in a letter Friday afternoon, said Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Butch Santicola.
"The salary offer was not adequate," he said. "Even our salary increase alone would keep them as the lowest-paid teachers in the county."
The average Duquesne teacher is paid about $44,000, while the average teacher salary in the county is more than $60,000, Santicola said.
Teachers initially were requesting a 22 percent increase but lowered their offer to 19 percent. The union was offered a 3 percent raise in a one-year contract but rejected it, said Bill Andrews, solicitor for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
The increase teachers are requesting is unrealistic, he said.
"It's ludicrous. This is a district that is under state control and beyond bankrupt. They're dealing with a tax base that frankly can't afford it."
Santicola said no negotiations are scheduled over the Labor Day weekend.
The district educates 520 students in kindergarten through eighth grade under a five-year agreement with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and the Pennsylvania Department of Education that began in July 2007.
The troubled district was taken over by the state in 2000. Its high school was closed in June 2007, and students in grades 9-12 were sent to East Allegheny and West Mifflin Area schools. Those students will still have classes and transportation throughout the strike.
Extracurricular activities will be canceled during the strike. Parent updates will be posted at the elementary entrance to the school and available by calling 412-394-5505.
Santicola said the 49 teachers have worked under five administrations since 2000, something that continues to frustrate the staff.
"It's really important that everyone understands that this has happened, that has happened and a lot of different administrations have come through," Santicola said. "They've all come and gone, and no one has come in with a solution."
Andrews said students will still attend a full 180-day academic schedule and referred to the strike as a "disruption."
"This serves no useful purpose," Andrews said. "It's unnecessary, but it's their call, so be it."
In Armstrong County, the Apollo-Ridge School Board yesterday approved a five-year contact with teachers that gives them an average wage increase of 3.6 percent each year. The union voted to approve the contract earlier this week.
The contract eliminates the traditional indemnity health insurance option. Teachers will not have to pay health insurance premiums, but the out-of-pocket co-payments have increased.
Remember the Dusquesne district that was taken over in 2000? How are things going? Ummm...not so well.
The high school closed in 2007. The teachers are woefully underpaid. There's been five administrations in the seven years since state takeover.
Makes Morrisville look positively rock-solid by comparison.
Duquesne teachers to go on strike Tuesday
By Daveen Rae Kurutz
TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Saturday, August 30, 2008
Teachers in the Duquesne City School District will be on strike starting Tuesday morning.
The teachers' union informed the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the governing body for the distressed district, in a letter Friday afternoon, said Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Butch Santicola.
"The salary offer was not adequate," he said. "Even our salary increase alone would keep them as the lowest-paid teachers in the county."
The average Duquesne teacher is paid about $44,000, while the average teacher salary in the county is more than $60,000, Santicola said.
Teachers initially were requesting a 22 percent increase but lowered their offer to 19 percent. The union was offered a 3 percent raise in a one-year contract but rejected it, said Bill Andrews, solicitor for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
The increase teachers are requesting is unrealistic, he said.
"It's ludicrous. This is a district that is under state control and beyond bankrupt. They're dealing with a tax base that frankly can't afford it."
Santicola said no negotiations are scheduled over the Labor Day weekend.
The district educates 520 students in kindergarten through eighth grade under a five-year agreement with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and the Pennsylvania Department of Education that began in July 2007.
The troubled district was taken over by the state in 2000. Its high school was closed in June 2007, and students in grades 9-12 were sent to East Allegheny and West Mifflin Area schools. Those students will still have classes and transportation throughout the strike.
Extracurricular activities will be canceled during the strike. Parent updates will be posted at the elementary entrance to the school and available by calling 412-394-5505.
Santicola said the 49 teachers have worked under five administrations since 2000, something that continues to frustrate the staff.
"It's really important that everyone understands that this has happened, that has happened and a lot of different administrations have come through," Santicola said. "They've all come and gone, and no one has come in with a solution."
Andrews said students will still attend a full 180-day academic schedule and referred to the strike as a "disruption."
"This serves no useful purpose," Andrews said. "It's unnecessary, but it's their call, so be it."
In Armstrong County, the Apollo-Ridge School Board yesterday approved a five-year contact with teachers that gives them an average wage increase of 3.6 percent each year. The union voted to approve the contract earlier this week.
The contract eliminates the traditional indemnity health insurance option. Teachers will not have to pay health insurance premiums, but the out-of-pocket co-payments have increased.
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