State Board of Education

State Board of Education
Eight-Year Term - Vote for Two (2)

Q1) Should MEAP scores be the main measure of school performance? Explain.
Q2) In light of the unfounded mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act, how can the state board help public school districts to maintain or improve their current level of services?
Q3) Do you believe that the quality of data collection is sufficient for the legislature to make decisions regarding the cap on the number of charter schools? Explain.

Nancy Danhof, Republican
Graduated East Lansing High School and MSU BA with a teacher’s certificate, married with two children, active on statewide non-profit boards and community activities. Eight years on the East Lansing School Board; seven years as policy chair. Director of the Michigan Foundation for Education Leadership for six years, planner for the Governor’s Education Summit. Collaborated with education associations, colleges and universities. I will bring education perspective, problem solving and public policy development abilities.

1) No. Accountability is vital to improving our children’s education. The MEAP and other tests that reflect high standards provide accountability, however, closing the achievement gap between high and low scoring students and working to bring all students up to their full potential must remain a focus. Highly qualified teachers who understand student assessment and early intervention so that all students are prepared to succeed is a necessary measure of accountability and performance as well.

2) The State Board must insist that all federal funds be used to help local districts maintain or improve their current level of services. This means becoming facilitators for local districts in how to navigate and meet the Federal requirements so that the scarce resources and funds available are not left unused and under utilized.

3) The quality of data collected in all schools must be constantly examined to ensure that it is of the highest possible quality. Charter schools have a special need to provide accurate and current information as they should be on the front lines of innovation. Not just the Legislature, but parents and students should have access to data of the highest quality possible so that they can make the most advantageous decision for their children.

Robert M. Smart, Republican
Resident of Grand Rapids. Graduate Walled Lake Consolidated Schools (1965), and the UofM (BA, Economics, 1970). Graduate work in Finance, MSU. Staff Member Michigan House of Representatives 1971-1975. President and Founder, Smart Planning Company (Financial Consulting) 1987-present. Republican Nominee for State Representative, Lansing 1972. Past President, Kentwood Rotary Club. Member of the Vestry, St. Marks Episcopal Church. Past board member, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. Married to Martha Smart. Director, Kent District Library.

1) The Education Yes A-D, Alert and Unaccredited grading standards adopted by the State Board were designed to provide evaluation criteria that encompass more than test scores. Opinion is divided as to whether the ACT test should be substituted for 11th graders. I want to defer action on this step. I believe in accountability measures for schools as embodied in No Child Left Behind.

2) The “unfunded mandate” argument is often a partisan attempt to discount the value of the legislation or pre-excuse the failure to perform. There is usually a difference between the amount Congressional committees authorized and the amount finally appropriated. Title I federal spending for education has increased 42.5% from 2001-2005. Overall Department of Education appropriations have increased 142%. On average states have $35 million of unspent funds from prior appropriations.

3) I believe in accountability for all education delivery systems. I believe in expanding choice to provide students an immediate alternative to failing schools and increase parental involvement. Existing studies have shown that competition results in greater productivity in both Charter and traditional public schools. This is the reason to lift the cap on charter schools.

Marianne Yared McGuire, Democrat
Born and raised in Grand Rapids. BA in Education from Aquinas College, BFA in Journalism from WSU, post grad courses in Education. Elementary school teacher for 10 years in GR and Detroit. Elected to the State Board in 1996 running on a platform to preserve and enhance public education for all children. Have two grown children; daughter a banker and son a public school Physics teacher. Work part-time at Borders Books and do free-lance writing.

1) No, and to take the stress off the MEAPs as the only indication of how a school or district is achieving, the State Board established Education Yes! Using a base score of 100, Ed Yes! Calculates MEAP scores for 67% with other factors such as art, social studies, parental participation, and school progress counting for the remaining 33%. The total presents a more rounded picture of school performance.

2) NCLB has sapped the Department of Education’s staff and fiscal resources. Undaunted, the Department, along with MSU has created and trained a coterie of coaches to personally assist individual schools not meeting AYP. It’s clear that a financial plan such as proposal A does not fill school needs when sales tax revenues are down. It’s time to talk about tweaking.

3) The legislature has repeatedly shown it doesn’t care about data showing that charter schools aren’t meeting their promises. Furthermore, if the legislature wanted to meet the spirit of the law which limits the number of charters to 125 it would close the loophole allowing Bay Mills College to charter an unlimited amount of schools. We now have 220 charter schools in Michigan.

Herbert S. Moyer, Democrat
Herbert Moyer-teacher, school administrator, superintendent. Lifelong Michigan resident, born Buchanan, MI. Married, father and grandfather. BA-WMU; MA-Columbia; Ed.D-WSU. Served on following: Monroe Child and Family Council; Michigan PTA Education Commission Chairman, Health and Family Chair; Member Rotary and Lions; Monroe County Chamber; Monroe Co. Democratic Party Executive Committee; United Way Campaign Chair; VP 02-04 State Board. 1994 Michigan Superintendent of Year, 1998 Michigan Education Hall of Fame inductee.

1) No! PA 25 gives specifics for grading of schools, however, initially it did not include other measures such as physical facilities, attendance and parental involvement. This was not implemented until 2001-during Moyer’s term.

2) The unfunded part is very unfortunate. The State Education department funding and staffing has been severely cut. With these limitations our capable staff is working collaboratively through ISDs, universities and the education community to implement many plans to work with schools at risk and to maintain our current levels.

3) Yes. Our legislature has received much data and status information on our charter schools. Not one aspect of the McPherson study has been implemented and it seems charter schools in Michigan are not qualitative but quantitative with limited oversight.

Peter Ponzetti, Green
Peter Ponzetti will graduate from WMU in Apr. 2005 with a BA in Secondary Education. Over the past three years, he has worked as a writing tutor, substitute teacher and student mentor. In 2002, Peter was a candidate for State Representative. He is a member of the MEA and ACLU, and has written extensively about education issues. Born in Royal Oak, MI in 1980, Peter holds two A.A. honors degrees from MCC, in Flint, MI.

1) Absolutely not. Standardized tests such as the MEAP do not measure school performance, they measure how much students can cram into their short-term memories to be able to answer multiple choice and short essay questions. MEAP shows if a student gets the correct answer, not how or why. In real life, employers, colleges and the military want to know not only the correct answer, but how one obtained it and why it is correct.

2) The long-term goal of “No Child Left Standing” is to shift education from being a public good to a “private-public” partnership. This means that corporations selling education services, like the Edison Project, will be able to make a profit at taxpayer expense. The State Board of Education should actively pressure the State Legislature to cut subsidies to private enterprise within Michigan and utilize that money to meet federal NCLB mandates.

3) No. Data collection and evaluation should be completed by a state agency and not contracted private sector firms, such as Public Sector Consultants, Inc. and MAXIMUS, Inc. Just as a Michigan public university must grant a charter in order for an individual, organization or corporation to open a charter school, it should be state oversight and not private sector oversight which determines raising, lowering or maintaining the cap.

Gail M. Graeser, US Taxpayers
I was born in Chicago, Illinois, but have lived in Fremont, Michigan for 32 years. I have an Associates Degree in Medical Secretary/ Transcription and have worked in that field for years. I have been involved as a volunteer in various areas over the years at the Christian school, public school, and church; I am currently a Coffeebreak Bible Study Leader and a secretary/counselor at Alpha Women’s Center (crisis pregnancy center).

1) No. There is more to education than “teaching to the test” which happens when MEAP scores only are used as a measure of school performance.

2) Maybe by looking at the program itself and realizing it could be an impossible mandate to fulfill, which may mean getting more parents involved in their children’s education by getting less government involvement. Parents are responsible for educating their children, not the government.

3) I have no idea what data is collected now, but why is the legislature making those decisions? What happened to parents making the decision on how and where to educate their children?

Stephanie Poortenga, US Taxpayers
Did not respond in time for publication

Scotty Boman, Libertarian
Did not respond in time for publication

Ernie Whiteside, Libertarian
Graduate of Morley-Stanwood High School, Morley, MI, senior class president and honorary science student. Fourteen year, veteran of the United States Air Force, honorable discharge, Commendation Medal and National Defense Ribbon. Associates of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology from the Community College of the Air Force and Bachelor of Science in Business Management (Magna Cum Laude) from Park College, Parkville, MO. Software Account Executive and Medical Technologist. Home educator since year 2000.

1) No. The best judges of school performance are the parents and the local school board. Standardized comparative testing may be helpful, but can be very misleading. For example, in a population of 100 excellent schools, those ranking 99 and 100 (worst) are still excellent schools; in a population of 100 poor schools, those ranking 1 and 2 (best) are still poor schools. Trust the local school boards to set their own standard for excellence.

2) Just say, “No!” Federal mandates are a result of accepting federal funding. Federal funds make up less than 7% of the money needed to run public schools while costing schools far more to implement. Reinforce the superior role of the local school boards in managing public schools, limit the role of the state board and eliminate the role of the federal government. Don’t accept ANY federal funds for education.

3) I do not support charter schools; I support private, parochial and home education programs as an alternative to traditional public schools. Parents are the best-qualified people to determine when a private school alternative is superior to public schools. Protecting private school alternatives from state regulation and offering only a no-frills, quality, basic public education program will ultimately make private school alternatives more attractive and result in a lower cost to the taxpayer.

Colette McLogan, Natural Law Party
Did not respond in time for publication

VOTE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2004