October 2016

October 2016

Focus Areas: High Quality Student Evaluations, Program Evaluation, Skilled Staff, Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)

Type: Open Committee

Finance & Legislation meets bi-monthly on MAASE Tuesdays during lunch 12:00-1:00 pm. F&L is an open committee – Please join us!

MAASE Platform & Priorities: Will be meeting virtually on October 18, 25 and Nov 1st from 12:30 to 1:30 pm to review and revise the MAASE Platform/Priorities document for the 2017 legislative session. This Ad Hoc Workgroup is looking for additional members wanting to think deeply about MAASE priorities and wordsmith positions for clarity and impact. Please contact rfuerer@eupschools.org for information or to volunteer.

News – Mindy Miller will be serving as Finance & Legislation Co-Chair!

IDEA Reauthorization Ad Hoc group is looking for additional members. Next steps for this workgroup include moving from a summary document to concise issue briefs designed to influence the reauthorization process moving forward. MAASE members are needed to bring their best ideas and writing skills to the table to influence the next generation of special education.

51a Ad Hoc work group now forming. Intent for this committee is to communicate and collaborate with other MAASE Members re: the fiscal and FAPE implications of 51a.

Please contact rfuerer@eupschools.org for more information or to volunteer.

MCEC / October 2016

Focus Areas: Skilled Staff, Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)

Type: Board Appointed

77th Annual Michigan CEC Conference  March 1-3, 2017

Amway Grand Hotel, Grand Rapids

MCEC invites you to check out our current plans and featured speakers on our conference website.  All links for information and registration can be found on our MCEC website: michigancec.org

Some things to know right now:

• Call for presentations will be open until 5:00pm on December 2nd.  Please encourage staff to present and highlight your district’s best practices!
• Nominations for Honors and Awards will also be accepted until December 16th, including Yes I CAN! nominations.  Honor staff, students, parents and community members.
• Keynote Speaker: Dr. Marcia Tate, author of “Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites:20 Instructional Strategies to Engage the Brain”. Dr Tate will also be presenting a breakout session later in the day on Friday, March 3rd.
• Wednesday Workshops feature national speaker, Dr. Lee Ann Jung, who will train on the K-12 Intervention Process and Progress Monitoring.  We also welcome some great Michigan presenters, including:
  • Dr. Michelle Baker Herring, Utilizing Technology to Support Student Growth
  • Laurie VanderPloeg and Sharon LaPointe, Whatever Happened to Specialized Instruction, and Why
  • Dr. Ed Roeber and Dr. Ellen Vorenkamp, Using Formative Assessment Strategies for Diverse Populations of Learners
• Districts registering 10 or more people at one time will receive a 10% discount on your invoice.
• A full listing of Thursday and Friday breakout sessions will be available by the first week in January on our MCEC website.

Michigan CEC proudly congratulates our former President and national CASE President on her election for 2017 President-Elect of CEC.  We look forward to Laurie’s leadership of CEC as our International President in 2018!

Lobbyist / October 2016

Type: Open Committee

Karoub Report:  9/20/16

MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT TAKES REPRESENTATIVE PETTALIA’S LIFE

Representative Peter Pettalia (Presque Isle) was killed last week in a motorcycle accident as he was returning to Lansing. A memorial service has been held for the popular third-term lawmaker. House Speaker Kevin Cotter (R-Mt. Pleasant) has appointed new members to committee vacancies left by Representative Pettalia. Representative Ben Glardon (R-Owosso) will assume chairmanship of the House Transportation Committee. Representative Jeff Farrington (R-Utica) will serve as the committee’s vice chair and Representative Gary Howell (R-North Branch) will fill the remaining vacancy on the committee. Representative Mike Callton (R-Nashville) will take up the role as vice chair of the Financial Services Committee and Representative Ken Goike (R-Ray Twp.) will fill the remaining vacancy. Representative Ray Franz (R-Onekama) will fill Representative Pettalia’s spot on the Energy Committee and Representative Joel Johnson (R-Clare) will take up the vacancy on the Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee

SCOTUS SHUTS DOWN SCHUETTE

Attorney General Bill Schuette’s emergency appeal to keep a ban on straight ticket voting in place was denied Friday by the U.S. Supreme Court. So it means the straight-ticket voting bubble will more likely than not be back for the November election. Mr. Schuette took the appeal to the highest court in the land after a federal judge in Michigan ordered a preliminary injunction on its immediate implementation. Friday was the state’s deadline to finalize ballots for the November election. The two-sentence order issued by SCOTUS read: “the application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied. Justice Thomas and Justice Alito would grant the application.”

SBE OFFERS SCHOOLS GUIDANCE ON LGBTQ

On a party-line vote the State Board of Education (SBE) approved a guidance document advising Michigan’s public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker room corresponding to their gender. The SBE document says transgender students have the right to use the bathroom of their gender identity if they choose, and that no transgender student should be forced to use a changing facility incongruent with their gender identity. The SBE document made reference to a federal guidance issued in May by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to use as its legal basis for the recommendations.

BEER TAX INCREASE INTRODUCED

The tax on beer in Michigan has not been raised since 1966, but Representative Thomas Hooker (R-Byron Center) wants to change that. Representative Hooker has introduced legislation (HB 5873) that increases the tax from 1.9 cents per 12 ounce bottle or can to 6.9 cents, nearly 250 percent and uses that money primarily for substance abuse treatment and increased enforcement of alcohol related crimes. The measure, for the first time, indexes the tax to the rate of inflation. The bill isn’t likely to get a hearing before the November 8 election. In fact, the bill is unlikely to get any hearing and Representative Hooker will be leaving the Legislature at the end of this year because of term limits.

SENATE PASSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGISLATION

The Senate passed legislation (HB 4209 and HB 4827) that creates a regulatory framework for the use of medical marijuana. Specifically, the bills create five different licenses for the legal sale of medical marijuana growing, testing, processing, transporting and selling through provisioning centers. After passing the House, the entire package was being held up in the Senate over the issue of “medibles,” marijuana infused products made for those who can’t inhale smoke. The bills create a 3 percent tax on marijuana and give locals the authority to better regulate where and how many provisioning centers can be in a community. A five member board would be created to implement the new regulations and state licensed activities involving medical marijuana would be protected.

SENATE DRIVES AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES LEGISLATION TO THE HOUSE

The Senate last week passed and sent to the House a four bill package (SBs 995 through 998) that is designed to authorize the testing of autonomous vehicle research in Michigan. Under the bills, autonomous vehicles would be given the go ahead for testing on 122 miles of Michigan roads, would authorize that Willow Run airport be developed a testing facility for the vehicles, and would create the Michigan Council on Future Mobility within MDOT which will provide recommendations for ongoing policy changes needed as development of the vehicles progresses.

EM LAW IS UPHELD

Unless the nation’s highest court says otherwise, Michigan’s emergency manager law is here to stay. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the law did not violate constitutional rights under the First and Thirteenth Amendments and the voting rights act, thus affirming the decision of the district court. In Phillips, et al. v. Snyder, et al., the three judge panel voted unanimously to hold to U. S. Supreme Court precedent by ruling that states have absolute discretion to control their political subdivisions.

SUPREMES SNUFF OUT THE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION PETITION CASE

A leave to appeal has been denied by the Michigan Supreme Court to attorney Jeffrey Hank in his effort to get legalized marijuana on the November ballot. Now Hank has pledged to seek appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The denial was in the case MILegalize v. Secretary of State, Bureau of Elections and Board of State Canvassers, which Hank filed after his group failed to gather enough valid signatures under the state’s 180 day window, requiring the state to deny certification. The order issued by the MSC said the court was not persuaded and the questions presented should be reviewed.

COURT RULES ON MCCA’S FOIA EXEMPTION

A three judge panel of the Court of Appeals has ruled that the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Associate (MCCA) is a public body and does not need to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The ruling comes after the Michigan Supreme Court asked the appellate court to answer those questions. The three judge panel ruled that the MCCA is a public body and the Legislature did not violate the constitution when it exempted the public body from releasing its records to the public. The insurance industry groups applauded the ruling and used the moment to again promote their push for no fault reform.

ISD Collaborative (CoP) / October 2016

Focus Areas: Program Evaluation, Skilled Staff, Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)

Type: Open Committee

The Monitors will be taking over Motown in May! This years Monitor’s conference will be held May 10-12 at the Marriott Courtyard in Detroit. Region 4 is working hard to plan a fabulous agenda that will align with the 4 MAASE focus areas. More to come!

REED Rubric Presentation: Renee Thelen (Ionia ISD) and Jamieson Bennet (Berrien RESA) collaborated to create a REED Rubric.  Renee and Jamie gave a brief presentation to the group and shared the rubric with everyone to be used in efforts to improve the quality and consistency of REEDs.

Renee and Jamie also presented the REED Rubric at MAASE Summer Institute and were able to make additional adjustments and enhancements that were based on feedback from participants at SI.  They also demonstrated the effectiveness of the REED Rubric with the Region 3 Monitors.  As a group we all looked at a REED document and were able to use the rubric to come up with a common perspective on the quality of the REED and the needed improvements to share with the staff who complete them.  This product will result in an increase of highly skilled staff.

Renee and Jamie, the Mi Monitors thank you for your work on this project and your leadership!

51A Presentation: Tom Koepke presented to the group regarding 51a.  There are a lot of questions regarding 51a and Macomb County has some materials that they have created and shared with the group.  They are meeting with charters individually in order to start the 51a conversations.  Although Macomb is leading the charge, they say there are still many questions surrounding how virtual schools are providing FAPE.

This dangling question will align nicely with the Virtual FAPE work group that was just put together by MAASE, which will align with MAASE focus area of program evaluation and specially designed instruction.

Parent Friendly Procedural Safeguards: There have been many suggestions in the past to create a set of parent friendly procedural safeguards as a way to be more parent friendly and an attempt to eliminate the us vs. them feeling that some parents experience when they are dealing with schools. The intent would be to create a product that would better inform parents of their rights and avenues available for pursuing those rights in partnership with the school/district.  A group will begin to start the conversation on this.

Sig Dispro Formula:  It was discovered that sig dispro data may be incorrect for districts located within ISD’s who operate under their own schools of choice plan.  The sig dispro formula will send a data for a student coded as 02 schools of choice under 105 or 03 schools of choice under 105c to the actual school who accepted them under schools of choice.  However, districts who utilize their own schools of choice plan are not allowed to use the CEPI codes of 02 and 03, and so must use 06.  The data for any student coded as an 06, according to the sig dispro forumla, goes back to the Resident District based on address.  This caused several schools in Kent to be considered as Sig Dispro when they were not.  The recommendation is to check and see what Schools of Choice Plan your ISD operates under and then verify data.  MDE has adjusted the Sig Dispro formula now so that the data for any student coded as an 06 will and NOT IEP Placed will go to the Resident District providing FAPE, NOT based on address.