There's a push to eliminate the Michigan education board: Here's why

A resolution in the Michigan Legislature pushes for the elimination of the State Board of Education, but voters would have the final say over the fate of the elected body.

The proposal was met with mixed reaction this morning during a meeting of the House Education Reform Committee. And the co-presidents of the board say the effort is not only a long shot but misguided.

Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, is the resolution's primary sponsor. He said "Michigan has fallen precipitously" in academic rankings over the last decade, and the board has "watched fecklessly as we have fallen farther and farther behind."

He described it as "educational malpractice."

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Members of the eight-member board are elected to eight-year terms on a partisan basis. A key function of the board is appointing a state superintendent, who oversees the Michigan Department of Education. But the board also sets education policy in the state and provides guidance to the Legislature on educational matters.

The board is split evenly among Republicans and Democrats; however, that split occurred after November's election and prior to that, Democrats had a hefty advantage for years.

The resolution would amend the Michigan Constitution by eliminating the board and having the governor appoint the state superintendent.

It would need to be passed by two-thirds of the Legislature and then be put on the ballot of the next general election in the state.

Kelly said the state board is a barrier to improving academic outcomes for Michigan students. The state has been on an academic slide. Michigan's fourth-graders rank 41st nationally in reading, and eighth-graders rank 37th in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam given to a representative sample of students in every state.

State Superintendent Brian Whiston and the board have, for the last two years, been working on a plan to change that, with the goal of Michigan being a top 10 performing state in 10 years.

Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, questioned whether eliminating the state board would change academic outcomes, given that most of the big decisions on schools are made at the local level.

"I don't disagree with the evidence" regarding Michigan's academic slide, Zemke said. "Those facts are very clear. I question whether this recommendation is going to solve any of those problems."

Casandra Ulbrich, D-Rochester Hills, co-president of the State Board, said the proposal to abolish the board "is a misguided attempt" at improving student achievement.

"The reality is that doing this ... will not improve student achievement," Ulbrich said. "It will simply remove a very important, powerful voice from the conversation. And that voice is established by the voters of the state of Michigan."

Her co-president, Richard Zeile, R-Dearborn Heights, said he believes the the resolution is "entirely misdirected." But, he said, he agrees with "probably 80%" of Kelly's claims that the board has engaged in identity politics and hasn't been focused on improving academic achievement.

"The problem was substantially addressed in the last election when we got parity with Republicans and Democrats on the board," said Zeile, who added that when Democrats had control, "they indulged in some partisan things."

"Now that we have a 4-4 split ... we can stop them from doing stupid stuff, and they can stop us from doing stupid stuff."

Ulbrich and Zeile question the chances of the resolution being approved by the Legislature, given that it needs a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.

"It has the potential possibly to move out of the committee structure," Ulbrich said. "I would be very surprised if they could get (enough support) for this measure."

There have been unsuccessful efforts in previous years to eliminate the board. Last year, for instance, Kelly was the primary sponsor on a similar resolution that was supported by 30 other Republicans. The current resolution was supported by nine of his fellow lawmakers.

This effort, though, follows a report released this year by Gov. Rick Snyder's 21st Century Education Commission.

Among the many recommendations in that report: change the governance of the state board. More specifically, the commission laid out three options for the Legislature to consider, all of which require a change to the state constitution:

• Allow the governor to appoint members of the s State Board.

• Allow the governor to directly appoint the state superintendent and then abolish the State Board.

• Change the State Board by removing partisan nominations and expanding membership to include gubernatorial appointments.

Thomas Haas, the president of Grand Valley State University and chairman of the commission, testified at today's hearing. He said a fundamental question that legislative leaders must answer is whether the State Board is "carrying out its fiduciary duties" and whether it is "relevant for the way forward."

Rep. Daniela Garcia, R-Holland, said she supports the resolution.

"The Michigan Department of Education and the school board are really clearinghouses for federal policy," Garcia said. "There is not a lot of innovation happening through the State Board meetings or at the department itself."

But Russ Bellant, a Detroit activist, objected to placing so much power in the hands of a governor, saying other efforts have "demonstrably failed time and time again."

He and others cited the experiences of the Detroit school district when it was under the power of a state-appointed emergency manager, saying the district's financial problems worsened when power was consolidated under one person and the district's elected school board was left powerless.

Detroit, Zemke said, "is a great example of why locally elected accountability is vital."

"The crux of the issue for me, for anyone, is whether we want to deviate from democratically elected officials making decisions. I would argue ... we need to empower elected officials and hold them accountable."

Ulbrich said that if lawmakers really want to improve student achievement, they should "look at what has changed from when we were leading to nation to being in the bottom 10."

She said that when the state was doing well academically, the board had more power. But a lot of that power was stripped away through executive orders from governors. She said lawmakers also need to look at how they're funding schools and the growth of school choice as factors.

Contact Lori Higgins: 313-222-6651, lhiggins@freepress.com or @LoriAHiggins