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MIRS, June 3,
2008
Today, the House Education Committee reported out HB 5323,
legislation that would restore the state Board of Education's
authority over special education. In 1996, former Gov. John
ENGLER took that authority from the board with Executive Orders
11 and 12, and placed it in the hands of the State
Superintendent and Intermediate School District (ISD)
superintendents.
According to testimony, Engler's move a dozen years ago created
a barrier to input from parents and teachers.
"Since that executive order back in 1996, there have been
250,000 special education students who have not had a voice,"
said Marcie LIPSITT, a parent who has been a major activist
behind HB 5323.
The parents and teachers who testified told of policy changes
imposed at both the state and local ISD levels that they believe
were counter-productive. They said that not only did they oppose
the changes, but they had to endure the frustration of not being
able to express their objections before the policies were
implemented.
Rep. Glen STEIL, Jr. (R-Grand Rapids) was the lone no-vote on
the bill. He questioned whether it made sense to change the
authority structure when the real problem was with disagreement
with certain decisions.
"If we change to the Board, couldn't you be just as unhappy with
its decisions?" Steil asked.
After a bit of back-and-forth between Steil and Lipsitt,
Committee Chair Tim MELTON (D-Auburn Hills) explained that the
legislation was not about disagreeing with individual decisions,
it was about the lack of input and transparency under the
current structure.
Rep. Fred MILLER (D-Mt. Clemens), the bill's sponsor, reiterated
Melton's point.
"This brings that transparency back to the process," Miller
said.
Lipsitt was actually the force behind the bill, to the extent
that she worked to get 59 co-sponsors in the House and is
working to garner support for it in the Senate. Among those
co-sponsors was Rep. Chuck MOSS (R-Birmingham), who spoke out in
favor of the bill today.
"Certainly it would be more efficient to be governed by a czar .
. . and Governor Engler sure shared that philosophy," Moss said.
"I might even agree if I could be assured that we'd always have
Republican governors . . . but of course the Democrats would
look at it the other way around. So we need a process that
allows those who will be affected by these decisions to be
heard."
John TRUSCOTT of the John Truscott Group, who was Engler's
spokesman throughout most of the Engler years, defended the 1996
executive orders.
"All the Board of Education did was, was a do-nothing body,"
Truscott said. "If this bill were to be enacted I think those
who support it are going to be very disappointed with what the
Board actually does with that authority. All they do is talk and
never take any action."
The teacher labor unions - the Michigan Education Association
(MEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) - support
the legislation. Oakland Schools opposes it and the Michigan
Department of Education (MDE) is technically neutral - although
sources tell MIRS it's actually a resistant neutrality.
One issue that came up during today's hearing was that,
according to Lipsitt, the MDE often fails to return phone calls.
"They don't return phone calls," Lipsitt said. "Even
Representative Miller has said he doesn't get his phone calls
returned by the department.
Meanwhile, DOE spokesman Martin ACKLEY told MIRS that Lipsitt
has gotten a lot of attention from the department.
"This department has spent hundreds of hours responding to
Marcie Lipsitt's letters and inquiries," Ackley said.
On the House floor following the hearing, Miller told MIRS that
upon occasion the DOE has failed to return his calls.
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