Bill directs state agency to develop new MEAP test
By David Eggert
Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will spend 4 percent more next year on public schools and pause plans to replace its standardized test with one being developed by a group of states, under a K-12 budget headed toward final approval this week.
A House-Senate conference committee voted 4-1 Tuesday in favor of the nearly $13.9 billion spending plan, which boosts the state’s per-pupil funding to districts by at least $50. The lowest-funded districts will get $175 more, with the minimum aid rising from $7,076 to $7,251.
Districts also can qualify for more money by meeting “best practices” and get up to $100 more a student if standardized tests scores improve in math, reading or on high school assessments. The funding gap among districts will be $848 per student next fiscal year, down from a disparity of $2,300 when the school finance system was revamped 20 years ago.
Majority Republicans, who cut traditional per-student funding early in Gov. Rick Snyder’s first term while directing the state to permanently start covering a portion of districts’ ballooning retirement expenses, said the retirement funding cannot be discounted.
It amounts to “$500 per pupil that is being paid for in this budget for retirement costs in our public school system,” said Sen. Howard Walker, R-Traverse City, who chairs the Senate K-12 budget subcommittee. “It frees up money for school districts to apply in other areas.”
One Democrat voted against the legislation, and another — Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids — abstained from voting. He said he preferred the House-passed version of the budget and found it “incredibly difficult” to understand why Detroit Public Schools will get a $50 increase in the traditional foundation grant while a “cyber school in my district is going to get $175 more.”
Legislators also balked at the state Education Department’s plan to replace the nearly 45-year-old Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) next school year with exams developed by the Smarter Balanced consortium, a group of states — including Michigan — adopting national Common Core standards that spell out what math and English skills students should have at each grade. Lawmakers have expressed concerns about schools’ readiness to give the tests on computers, the length of the exams, their complexity and the process by which state officials decided to go with Smarter Balanced.
State officials have said it is too late to change direction and have warned that Michigan’s waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law may be jeopardized. The bill approved Tuesday directs the state to develop a new MEAP to be given next spring and tells the Education Department to seek a waiver or amendment to its existing waiver from the federal law.
The agency is required to request bids for a new standardized test for 2015-16. The new MEAP next year will have to align with the Common Core standards, which are designed to develop more critical thinking skills than traditional school work.
