Cut Class, Lose Welfare—MI’s Latest Attempt to Bail Itself Out on the Backs of the Poor

Get to Class, Punk (Image from Flickr, by DonkeyHotey)

A new Michigan law (effective October 1) requires all children to be in school full time or the entire family will become ineligible to receive welfare benefits, the Detroit News reports. Furthermore, all new cash-assistance applicants will now be required to prove school enrollment for their children and good attendance in order to receive aid, while families that have lost benefits due to truancy will have to prove their child has attended school for 21 consecutive days before they can regain eligibility.

Of course it is difficult to succeed in school if you do not go to class and truancy certainly hurts schools’ finances since revenues are based on average daily attendance. But it is cruel and stupid to strip welfare benefits from an entire family, potentially harming the health, safety and educational outcomes of younger siblings, because of the behavior of one child, particularly when truancies are often unavoidable products of poverty.

Many lower income children miss class for untreated medical conditions. Without health insurance or resources for preventable care, minor treatable conditions can worsen to the point that students are in too much pain to attend class. They may even require hospitalization. Lower income children also have higher rates of asthma, diabetes, anemia and other chronic conditions that can lead to long-term absences or hospitalization, particularly when treatment is out of reach. Even “excusable” medical absences can become “cuts” if they last longer than a few days and a doctor’s note cannot be obtained (which is not uncommon when the student cannot afford to see a doctor in the first place).

Lower income kids also sometimes stay home from school to care for younger siblings or older relatives so their parents can go to work. While this is unfortunate for the children who are missing out on school and being forced to grow up more quickly than their peers, it is also a product of poverty. Affluent families are more likely to be able to afford day care, home care, private preschool and other resources for family members in need of supervision or care.

Some students cut class to avoid bullies or rival gangs. This is rarely seen as an “excusable” absence by schools. However, from the perspective of the child it may be the only reasonable choice when the alternative of coming to school includes the risk of injury or even death. Students also report cutting class because they live far away from school and cannot secure consistent transportation to school. Hunger, depression and other mental health issues can also keep some kids from attending school regularly.

In none of these examples is the threat of losing welfare benefits likely to change the behavior.

Of course there are plenty of kids who are truant purely to avoid the stress of classwork or to party with their friends. There are also plenty of kids who are truant because their parents keep them away from school for family vacations or social events. It is understandable and perhaps even justifiable to hold these parents accountable for their children’s unexcused absences, but the state of Michigan is unlikely to invest in sufficient social workers to visit every home of every truant student to assess the actual causes and legitimacy of the truancies.

More importantly, if the issue truly is children’s wellbeing, a one-size fits all punitive approach cannot succeed and will most likely have the opposite effect. Since the majority of chronic truancies are related to poverty, stripping poor families of their meager welfare benefits will only worsen their poverty, while completely ignoring root causes of truancy like inadequate transportation, poor access to health care, gang violence, lack of child care for siblings, hunger and depression.

Financial Martial Law in Wisconsin, Too?

According to Forbes magazine, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his cronies are drafting legislation that would allow him to appoint emergency managers who could cancel union contracts, fire elected officials and school board members, and take control of entire cities and towns. Rick Unger, who wrote the piece, said that the plan is being written by the largest law firm in the state, Foley & Lardner, and is scheduled to be introduced to the legislature next month.

Walker went on the radio yesterday to deny the report, asserting that it was “absolutely bogus.” He denied that he or anyone in his office ever did or said or planned anything like this, which leaves open the possibility that Foley & Lardner are indeed working on such a plan, and that Walker is simply making a stab at plausible deniability. Unger’s source, a Wisconsin political organizer named Nate Timm, refused to name his source for this information, but had confirmed that he received his information from a “highly placed GOP source” who was in a position to know the governor’s plans.

If true, Wisconsin’s plan would be very similar to the financial martial law plan enacted in Michigan earlier this year, where Governor Snyder has already appointed an Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris, to take over the town of Benton Harbor. One of Harris’ first acts as Manager was to issue an order stripping away all powers from the city’s elected officials. Erik Kain, another Forbes writer, said that the Michigan and Wisconsin plans followed a pattern of similar legislation being pushed through in other Tea-Party controlled states enacting strikingly similar legislation all at the same time across the country.

State Budget Lunacy

The following was sent out by the California Teachers Association (CTA). It is a pretty good summary of some of the more egregious examples of how states are squeezing working people for the benefit of the rich. It is no coincidence that California has been left out of their list. CTA is complicit in the state’s gouging of working people, including their own members, the teachers. They are even trying to rally teacher support for a state capital protest to force legislators to allow an extension of regressive taxes that would further squeeze working people, while letting the rich off the hook. 

Florida

In Florida, Governor Scott is proposing a K-12 education cut of 10% or $700 per student. Schools are considering cutting football and athletics programs. At the same time, Scott has proposed cutting the corporate income tax from 5.5% to 3%, and fully eliminating it by 2018. The tax cut will cost the state $459 million in 2012. Florida is already 50^th in per capita state government expenditures for all education and 43^rd among the states in state tax revenue per capita [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; News 4 Jacksonville, 3/14/2011; Highlands Today 2/10/2011; Florida Times-Union 3/29/2011]

Maine 

In Maine, Governor LePage is cutting the alternative minimum income tax in 2012, lowering the top income tax rate from 8.5% to 7.95% in 2013, and in 2014 doubling the tax exemption in the estate tax. These cuts will cost the state $203 million over the next two years, but Mainers earning between $28,139 and $48,050 would only get a tax break of about $83 in 2013. Meanwhile, LePage is cutting health care for seniors, including a $14 million cut to Maine's Medicare Savings Program that would drop 40,000 people from the program which helps seniors and the disabled afford prescription medication. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; WABI, 3/31/2011]

Michigan 

In Michigan, Governor Snyder wants to eliminate the state business tax, replacing it with a flat 6% corporate income tax. He is also wants an additional $1.8 billion in business tax cuts. Yet, Snyder recently signed a law cutting unemployment benefits from 26 to 20 weeks. He also wants to cut $470 per pupil from K-12 education spending and a 15% cut in state support for public universities. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; Detroit Free Press 3/29/2011; Detroit News 4/1/2011]

Minnesota

In Minnesota, the Republican Senate has enacted new tax cuts costing $200 million in 2012-13 and $435 million in 2014-15. The tax breaks will be paid for by cutting the “Renter’s Credit” which provided a tax refund to over 300,000 low and moderate income households. [MN Budget Project 3/29/2011]

New Hampshire

Gov. Lynch wants to cut 23% of state funding from public universities ($750 per student) and 21% from community colleges ($400 per student). The New Hampshire house just passed a budget bill cutting $115 million from hospitals, $5 million from childcare aid for mothers trying to get off welfare, $90 million from the University System and $11 million from the Community College System. At the same time, the bill adds funding for charter schools and eliminates a $30 per vehicle registration fee.  [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; Union Leader 3/31/2011]

New Jersey

Gov. Christie is proposing a 25% reduction in the corporate minimum tax, and he wants to raise the estate tax exemption from $675,000 to $1 million. These cuts will cost the state $200 million in 2012. He also gave away $800 million in corporate tax cuts through his “Back to Work NJ” program, while rewarding millionaires with tax breaks. At the same time, he cut $1.3 billion in state support for education. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; Daily Record, 12/28/10; Office of Legislative Services Budget Analysis, April, 2010; NJPP Report 1/24/2011]

Ohio

Gov. Kasich is proposing a K-12 education cut of 10% ($489 per student) and a higher education cut of 11% ($510 per student), while giving away $1.2 billion vouchers and charters schools subsidies. Kasich cut Medicare by $1.4 million. Meanwhile, Kasich left 128 business tax exemptions, credits and deductions worth $7 billion in lost revenue and he is implementing an income tax break that will cost Ohio $800 million in revenue. [Policy Matters Ohio 3/25/2011; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; Policy Matters Ohio 3/29/2011; Toledo Blade 3/20/2011; Columbus Dispatch 3/17/2011]

Pennsylvania

Gov. Corbett refuses to collect revenue from new natural gas drilling, while proposing a k-12 education cut of 10% ($550 million), plus an additional $500 million in cuts to implement effective educations practices, train teachers, and maintain tutoring programs. He is also wants to cut more than 50% from higher education ($271 million) and reduce community college funding by 10%. Yet, there is plenty of money for tax breaks for businesses, like the elimination of capital stock and franchise taxes. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, 3/11/2011]

Wisconsin

Gov. Walker gave away $117 million in tax breaks for corporations and has promised to corporate taxes by $82 million. Meanwhile, he wants to cut education by 8% ($749 million) over the next 2 years, with an addition $250 million cut from state universities. He also wants to slash Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program. [Associated Press 2/4/2011; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/2011; WHBL News 3/31/2011]

Drug Testing Teachers & the Poor for Fun & Profit in Florida

Latest in Ed Deform, More Tea Party Lunacy, or Just Gold Old Capitalism at its Finest? 

Image by Francis Storr

Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott has signed an executive order requiring drug tests for all state workers and welfare recipients. According to the OB Rag, Scott plans to test at least 100,000 workers on the state payroll at least four times a year, as well as 58,000 welfare recipients, who would have to pay for their own drug screening. Rita Solnit, of Parents Across America, says that the drug testing will also apply to teachers.

This is not really news, as it has been reported extensively over the past few weeks, particularly by Chris Guerrieri, at Education Matters. Yet Scott’s hubris and his success up until now are so astounding I couldn’t resist writing about it. In order to become governor, Scott had to do more than just ride the wave of anti-Obama hatred that got so many Tea Party candidates elected. He also had to successfully whitewash a sordid past that included his forced resignation as CEO of the massive healthcare company Columbia/HCA over illegal business dealings and Medicare theft. The Miami Herald reported that the company ultimately admitted to fourteen felonies and had to pay a record $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud, while Scott, himself, was found to have taken part in illegal business dealings.

This history of corrupt medical business dealings set the stage for Scott’s current foray into the anti-drug side of healthcare. In 2001, Scott founded an urgent care clinic called Solantic, which offers drug and alcohol screening tests. During Scott’s election, he disclosed that he had holdings in Solantic worth $62 million. The company was transferred to his wife’s name when he was elected governor and he assured the public that Florida would not do business with the company, thus implying that there would be no conflict of interest. Yet the Palm Beach Post News reported that Solantic had received $110,657 from the state in 2010 and $20,061 so far in 2011, mostly in Medicaid payments. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Scott is expected to force millions of Medicaid patients into managed care organizations, which could funnel millions of dollars more into his family’s business.

According to Education Matters, the ACLU of Florida is calling Scott’s move an attempt to resurrect a policy that a federal judge found unconstitutional back in 2004. Clearly there is no public benefit to drug testing workers who have no direct responsibility for public safety, while it is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars to screen everyone, especially welfare recipients, who have no responsibility whatsoever for public safety. Imposing anti-drug morality on teachers and welfare recipients is the epitome of Nanny State invasion of privacy. Interestingly, the ACLU has come out on the side of state workers but, according to the OB Rag, has not provided much support for the rights of welfare recipients to keep their urine private.

All this comes on the heels of so many other attacks on students, teachers and working people it makes the head spin. (See Solnit’s article here for more).

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

• Teachers in Florida will now have 50% of their evaluations based on student test scores, which will force many of the best teachers to transfer out of low performing and low income schools and/or to focus even more heavily on test prep, at the expense of critical thinking, inquiry-based teaching and the promotion of student curiosity and love of learning. 
• Teachers and judges will be compensated through merit pay schemes, yet there has been no money allocated to pay for it. Thus, those teachers and judges deemed “excellent” will possibly see their wages remain constant, while everyone else will either be fired or get pay cuts. This too will exacerbate teaching to the test and flight from low income schools, while it will encourage judges to ram through cases quickly, without regard for justice or fairness.
• All new teachers will be on one-year contracts, with no job security, while existing teachers must choose between keeping their existing contracts, with the possibility of never seeing another raise, or joining the newbies with yearly contracts that may or may not be renewed. Of course, this is not a real choice. Anyone who has been in a district for more than a few years will have higher pay than the newbies, so giving up their existing contract will likely result in either not getting hired again, or having to accept entrance level wages.
• Seniority rights for teachers will be eliminated.
• Private charter schools will be expanded.
• Support for the developmentally disabled will be slashed.

Florida Law Lacks Merit and Pay

AAAA Republican-sponsored bill (SB 736) that would impose a merit pay plan on teachers and end tenure for new hires was approved by the Florida House on Wednesday. The legislation requires school districts to evaluate teachers partially on how much their students improve on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) or other exams over a three-year period. Half a teacher’s evaluation would be based on these test scores, while half would be based on evaluations by principals, and the evaluations would be used to determine if a teacher should get merit pay or be fired. Gov. Rick Scott has made it clear that he intends to sign the bill into law.

Under the new law, all new hires would work under one-year contracts, effectively ending tenure. All teachers for now on would be subject to arbitrary firing. Teachers who speak out against abusive administrators or working conditions could simply not be rehired the following school year.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Erik Fresen, “This law is going to correct a system that is flying blind, a system that has no form of knowledge to go on in terms of which teachers are highly effective and which ones aren’t.”

However, by using student test scores for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation, they are creating a system that is not only blind, but stupid. While the traditional system for teacher evaluations suffered the flaw of having inadequately trained administrators who often spend very little time observing teachers, at least it was based on things the teacher could control, like the creativity of their lesson plans, their knowledge of the content and the relationships they built with students. Test scores, in contrast, are dependent far more on a student’s socioeconomic background than on teacher skill. Thus, many highly skilled teachers who choose to work with (or wind up with) low income students will end up being let go, while some mediocre teachers who happen to work in privileged schools may end up getting merit bonuses.

Furthermore, they are potentially worsening the teacher shortage as people will be much less likely to pursue teaching careers if they don’t see any security in the job. Contrary to popular opinion, teaching is a highly skilled job. Most teachers need several years of experience before they are really good at their jobs. During this time they often put in 60-80 hour weeks to develop creative lessons, debrief lessons that they have delivered, increase their expertise with the content, fine-tune their discipline procedures, and learn to navigate the various levels of bureaucracy. If they are forced to reapply for their jobs each year, few will be willing to make such an investment of time and energy.

There are numerous bureaucratic problems with the legislation, too. For example, the bill provides no money to develop the state tests that would be used to assess teachers, nor any funding for the merit raises. Thus, in practice, there may be no one getting any merit pay, but a lot of people being fired due to their students’ test scores. Meanwhile, many districts are laying off teachers and slashing “non-essential” programs like sports in order to balance their budgets.

D.C. Teachers’ Late Win Against Rhee

The following is a reposting from Mike Klonsky’s blog.

D.C. public schools are being saddled with a $7.5 million settlement for the first 75 teachers Michelle Rhee fired during her reign of terror AND they must be offered their jobs back. Perhaps other districts will think twice before buying into similar search and destroy “reforms.”

Rhee's trail of destruction

 

Former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee left a trail of devastation in her wake when she left town. In December, the contractor she hired to run Dunbar High School, was given the boot. And yesterday, an arbitrator ruled that the first 75 teachers Rhee fired must be given about $7.5 million in back wages and offered positions with D.C. Public Schools. It's estimated that with an average annual salary of $50,000, each teacher would cash in on $100,000 -- costing the school system $7.5 million while the city faces a $545 million deficit in fiscal 2012.

Take heed Florida. Rhee is now advising and "permanently partnering" with your T-bagger Gov. Scott on how best to fire teachers and privatize the schools. Take note also Arne Duncan who lost what little credibility his own reform initiative had when he staked it all on Rhee's success in D.C.