1. Policy Matters: News from the Capitol Back to School | September 24, 2013 Brad Wever | Director of Public Policy The Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools | Central Michigan University

2. o Current Issues at the State Capitol Educator Evaluations Common Core Financially Distressed Districts o FY 2013-14 School Aid Budget o Accountability Scorecards & School Designations o Michigan Department of Education & State Board of Education o Upcoming Issues IN THIS PRESENTATION

3. o Hearings taking place on recommendations to the educator evaluation law by the Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness. o Beginning October 1, the MDE is prohibited from spending any funding on implementation of the Common Core and Smarter Balanced Assessment. o Policymakers are looking for early indicators and exploring other ways to help distressed districts remain financially stable. CURRENT ISSUES AT THE STATE CAPITOL

4. o The K-12 portion of the FY ‘14 school aid budget is $13.4 billion (up 2.5% from FY ’13). o The minimum foundation allowance increased to $7,076 per pupil All districts at the previous minimum of $6,966 moved up to $7,026 per pupil. Any district below $7,076 will see an increase of $1-$50 per pupil. o Maintains incentive funding for districts $80 million to districts meeting 7 of 8 “best practices” ($52 per pupil). $46.6 million in “performance funding” based on past MEAP proficiency level changes (up to $100 per pupil). o $503.3 million to address MSPERS costs $403.3 million to districts based on their MPSERS payroll (required under PA 300 of 2012) $100 million for cost offsets to districts based on MPSERS payroll FY ‘14 SCHOOL AID BUDGET

6. o $45 million in technology grants to assist districts to prepare for computer adaptive testing (down $5 million from FY ’13) o $174.2 million for the Great Start Readiness Program (up $65 million from FY ’13) o Online Pupils – Section 21f Allows students in grades 5-12 to enroll in up to two online courses Ties payment to completion, with 80% paid upon enrollment and 20% paid upon completion o Pupil Accounting – Section 25e Allows the MDE to adjust membership FTEs mid-year for transfers. FY ‘14 SCHOOL AID BUDGET

7. Reward Schools o Top 5% of schools on the Top to Bottom (T2B) list, top 5% of “improving” schools and “Beating the Odds” schools o 342 Reward Schools/35 charters Focus Schools o 10% of schools with the largest gap between the top 30% and bottom 30% of student performance o 349 Focus Schools/19 charters Priority Schools o Bottom 5% of T2B list o Must implement one of four intervention models; under supervision of the School Reform Office (SRO), possible assignment to EAA/EAS o 137 Priority Schools/26 charters 10 converted from traditional public schools since 2011 2 closed in June 2013 SCHOOL DESIGNATIONS

8. ACCOUNTABILITY SCORECARDS o Replaces the current School Report Cards and AYP calculations. o All schools receive a color designation based on subgroup proficiency and improvement rates. Maintains the 9 traditional subgroups, PLUS a new subgroup of the bottom 30% of students. Proficiency targets are set at equal intervals to reach 85% proficiency by 2022. Improvement rate is set at the 80 th percentile of the 4 year improvement slope of all schools. o Also includes other indicators: Graduation Rate Attendance Participation Status of Educator Evaluations Compliance with State Law

9. Report on Charter School Authorizer Performance (February 2013) o Focused on the school performance of large authorizers using Top to Bottom rankings and school designations. MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

10. State Board of Education Proposed Resolutions (May 2013) o Recommended the Legislature adopt more stringent guidelines on charter contract requirements and strengthen requirements for mandatory charter school closure. o Recommended the Legislature adopt state policies that require authorizers to monitor and determine fair market value of charter school lease agreements. MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

11. UPCOMING ISSUES Performance Audit of the Public School Academies Unit Follow up of a 2002 audit by the State Auditor General looking at MDE’s oversight of authorizers and authorizer’s oversight of schools. Report on Education Service Providers Will likely focus on school performance using Top to Bottom rankings and school designations. Audit by the US Department of Education Office of Inspector General Michigan is a case study for larger audit examining relationships between authorizers, management companies and boards.

12. UPCOMING ISSUES Focus on school district costs, not individual pupil funding Funding to cover MPSERS costs will continue to increase and puts a larger strain on available funding for the pupil foundation grant Changes to school accountability Education reform groups are pursuing a simple, easy to understand school grading system and ways to increase oversight of authorizers Public relations efforts opposing educational choice and charter schools Traditional school groups are organized and using the media and grassroots efforts to push their agenda

13. CMU CHARTERS CONTINUE TO BE A BETTER CHOICE o Percentage of schools meeting or outperforming their CRD increased from 90% in 2011 to 94% in 2012 o In 2012, students in CMU’s charter public schools outperformed students in the traditional public school districts in which they lived on 18 of 18 MEAP tests

14. Continuously enrolled CMU students nearly met the statewide average in reading proficiency and exceeded the statewide average in math proficiency! Statewide Average Grades 3-8 combined MEAP Achievement in Reading & Math by number of years enrolled in CMU charters ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 14

15. CREDO Report confirms charter students have greater learning gains than demographically similar traditional school students. MICHIGAN’S CHARTER SCHOOLS OUTPERFORMING 15

16. CONTACT INFO/QUESTIONS Brad Wever Director of Public Policy 517-364-9600 | bwever@thecenterforcharters.orgbwever@thecenterforcharters.org Twitter: @bradwever Facebook: Brad Wever