RICHLAND, MI --

At a time when most Michigan public schools are cutting back on electives, Gull Lake Community Schools offered an impressive selection for the 2011-12 school year, including horseback-riding, fencing and Suzuki music lessons, as well as more than 36 other courses.



All were offered free of charge and funded by taxpayer dollars;

to cover the costs.

More than 300 children took the classes. But according to an official who audited the student numbers, none of them were public school students. The program was created for and marketed to area homeschoolers, through Gull Lake's new Homeschool Partnership Program.

Although concerns have been cited about the program -- including the use of non-certified teachers -- the general concept of providing electives to homeschoolers is well within state regulations.

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July 9 memo by Richard McLellan

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That raises the question: Is a $1 million program comprised entirely of electives a good use of education dollars?

Absolutely, say champions of school choice who point to Gull Lake as a model of an innovative district willing to serve every student on his or her own terms, while maximizing parental options and autonomy in the process.

"I think it's wonderful" what Gull Lake is doing, said Marsha Myles, a former eighth-grade math teacher and CEO of EdTech Specialities, which consults with Gull Lake and school districts on online education and individualizing instruction. "It's really about creating a menu of as many options as we can to help kids cross the finish line" in K-12 education.

Even more important, it's a vision embraced by the people charged by Gov. Rick Snyder with overhauling Michigan's 1979 School Aid Act, the law used to divvy up money to school districts. Snyder wants to totally rethink the basis on which K-12 revenues are paid out, and hopes to have a new system approved by the Legislature in 2013.

A July 9 memo by Richard McLellan, the consultant heading the governor's task force, says the goal in rewriting the school-aid law is to develop a "student-centered system" where the money follows the student, and families have a wide range of choices, from a traditional public school to online learning to early college. The model has been described as: "Any time, any place, any way, any pace."

Among the goals listed in the memo: Allowing private and homeschool students "maximum access to public school resources within the constraints of Michigan's constitution."

Gull Lake Superintendent Chris Rundle says his district's efforts are following the priorities proposed by McLellan: More program options, adaptability to different learning styles, more experiential learning, embracing innovation, maximum access for nonpublic students.

"I'm hitting all those marks," Rundle said, "and we're not done yet. ... What we're saying is, let's engage these kids and change the curriculum."

Maximizing parental choice and autonomy. Student-centered learning. What's not to like?

"In some regards, that's wonderful," said Charles Glaes, superintendent of Vicksburg Community Schools. "But in some respects, it scares me to death.

"One way to look at it is that Gull Lake is a champion of parental rights," he said. "The more jaundiced view is that Gull Lake is raping the system."

He questioned the value of allowing nonpublic school students to tap the School Aid Fund for "things likes horsebacking-riding and tennis lessons" when programs for regular public school students are being defunded because of state budget cuts. Vicksburg also has an extensive list of classes such as yoga and tennis, he said, but they are offered through its community education center and participants pay a fee.

In discussions about McLellan's project, Glaes said, "I keeping hearing the phrase, 'Don't people deserve choice?' But that's the wrong question.

"The real question is, how much money do we have to spend on K-12 education and where is it most important to spend those precious resources?" Glaes said. "Should a want trump a need?"



Funding priorities for Michigan education

There's widespread consensus that the biggest issue in K-12 education is ensuring all children leave high school with the skills necessary to succeed in higher education and/or the work force.

So the question for many becomes how to best leverage funding to improve outcomes.

Tim Bartik, former school board president for Kalamazoo Public Schools and a senior economist for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, has long studied what works and what doesn't in K-12 education.

While people such as Myles promote school choice and parental autonomy as a major driver of school reform, Bartik says the research points to a different direction in getting the biggest bang for the taxpayer's buck.

"I think there should be a reasonable amount of parent choice," Bartik said. "But I don't think the primary emphasis should be choice. There's no evidence that suggests it works very well" in improving outcomes.

So what does work?

Bartik says the state would do well to invest in proven research-based strategies such as high-quality, universal preschool; smaller class size for grades K-3, particularly in high-poverty schools; mandatory summer school for early elementary students who are reading below grade level; and high school career academies, which would be an expansion of current career-tech programs.

He said it makes sense to increase the compensation of educators in high-poverty schools, in recognition that their work is more challenging and to ensure those schools can recruit high-quality principals and teachers.

In addition, he said, it's important to pay attention to the needs of all students, from the most gifted to the most struggling.

"If you ask everybody to pay for it, there has to be value for everybody," he said of the K-12 system. "You can't say, 'Your kid is middle-class, so we won't worry about him.' You can tilt it a bit (toward helping low-income children), but you have to make sure that every kid's needs are addressed."

But that doesn't necessarily mean the state should be funding Gull Lake-style electives, Bartik said.

A good way to measure the value of the Homeschool Partnership is asking whether Gull Lake voters would support it if the $1 million cost was paid by local property taxes, he said.

"If the likelihood of that getting approved is low," he said, "then it raises a serious question of whether the state should be allowing it."

Under the current system, the money is coming from the $13 billion State Aid Fund. An extra $1 million to Gull Lake for the Homeschool Partnership doesn't make much of a dent. But if every Michigan homeschooler participated in a program similar to the Homeschool Partnership, it would cost the state about $220 million. Add in private-school students, who also can take such electives, and the tab rises to a potential $600 million.

That's the concern of Don Wotruba, deputy director of the Michigan Association of School Boards.

"I love the idea of getting more homeschoolers back in the public school system," he said. "That's a positive outcome."

But, he said, that has to be balanced against the issue of "draining resources from the system, and some kids are going to end up with less resources than they had before."

Rundle, the Gull Lake superintendent, would not say whether he thought the $1 million spent by the state on the Homeschool Partnership Program was the best use of K-12 monies.

"We're doing what we're allowed to do," he said.

Robert Dietzel, the school district's attorney, said the district as well as the homeschool families clearly benefited from the program. One of the biggest pluses for the district: The program cost less than the state revenues received, and the extra money helped subsidize programs for regular K-12 students.

"Chris Rundle and his board has a responsibility to their constituents," Dietzel said. "Every district is struggling with cash flow and trying to find a way to bring more cash in. They funneled in more money, and it was not a sham."

If people are critical of the concept, he said, they should blame the state's funding model.

"Until that model is changed," Dietzel added, "Gull Lake should be applauded."

Making the case

Michigan has about 1.7 million school-age children, and almost 90 percent are in the public school system, including charter academies.

The state's private school enrollment was about 114,000 in 2010-11, and

suggests about 68,000 Michigan residents ages 5 to 17 are homeschooled.

Michigan has unusually strict rules that prohibit the state from providing financial help to private schools. Implementing a voucher program for private schools would require a change in the state Constitution. In 2000, voters rejected such a change by a 2-1 margin.

However, the law does allow nonpublic students -- both homeschoolers and private-school students -- to have access to public school services under some circumstances.

Such students are not allowed to take "essential" classes in English, math, science and social studies -- i.e. required academic classes. However, nonpublic students are allowed to take elective courses through public schools, and those districts can receive a pro-rated share of the $6,846 per-pupil foundation allowance.

It appears the original intent of the law was to allow nonpublic students to take, for instance, band or art classes at their neighborhood public school. Over the years, districts also have shared instructors with private schools -- for instance, a Spanish teacher for a public district may teach a Spanish class at a nearby Catholic school.

With state budget cuts in recent years, more districts have seen serving homeschoolers and private-school students as a way to increase revenues. As happened in Gull Lake, providing those classes generally cost a district less than the revenues they generate.

Last fall, Gull Lake took the most aggressive approach of districts in this region in recruiting nonpublic students by opening the Homeschool Partnership Program, which enrolled 322 part-time students, and a Virtual School in which 201 homeschoolers and others to took online classes.

The Homeschool Partnership was based at the Bedford Community/Family Learning Center. It was billed as a program "for homeschoolers, by homeschoolers" and had various classes in drama, music, art and athletics, not to mention courses in Latin, video production, "Oceans and Space" and "Medieval Renaissance."

The two programs enrolled 252.3 full-time-equivalent students, which the district anticipated would generate $1.7 million.

As it turned out, 74.83 FTEs in the Virtual School were disqualified for state funding because the district failed to meet a requirement that online students communicate with their "mentor" instructor at least once a week by phone or email. The district lost $480,000 over that issue.

In addition, the Homeschool Partnership Program was cited for using non-certified instructors -- certified teachers are required by state law -- and questions were raised about whether the homeschool classes were available to regular public schoolchildren. No public school students took classes at the Bedford site, which is not surprising since the classes were scheduled during the school day and the Bedford facility is 13 miles from Gull Lake's main campus.

Rundle has acknowledged "hiccups" in implementing the state's complicated rules during the programs' first year. But he and others also say the programs were a huge success in serving families in an innovative and creative fashion.

"Where we are headed is blurring the lines -- you have all these choices and you take what you find fits your needs," he said.

Myles, who has consulted with Gull Lake and other districts such as Berrien Springs and Suttons Bay on virtual schools and homeschool partnerships, said that during her years as an eighth-grade math teacher in Traverse City she saw too many students fall through the cracks.

She says districts such as Gull Lake are on the cutting edge of K-12 education, with a recognition that one size does not fit all.

She added that forming partnerships with homeschool families can benefit the entire school community, as homeschoolers offer fresh perspective on the value of parental engagement, individualized instruction, hands-on learning and using community resources as a classroom.

"Chris Rundle is doing the best thing for kids, and he's getting a lot of arrows shot at him for that, and I don't think that's right," Myles said. The students in Gull Lake's programs "are getting a great opportunity. Those classes they're offering, they're phenomenal."

Myles organized a conference in Lansing earlier this month in which the three dozen participants talked about the power of parental choice and autonomy, and how that could be incorporated in the new state-aid law.

"When we say 'think about the box,' it really is about creating a new box," said Rose Colby, author of "Off the Clock: Moving Education From Time to Competency," and one of the conference speakers. "This is a magic moment where we can come in and do good things for kids."

A lawmaker's perspective

State Rep. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, was among those who attended Myles' conference.

She is an enthusiastic supporter of parental choice and giving families more options.

"It's about giving parents ultimate control over their child's education," she said.

She also strongly believes that homeschool and private-school students should have access to public school resources. They are taxpayers, she says, and public schools should welcome all families.

"If we can allow more flexibility, then I could see more parents entering the traditional school system," O'Brien added.

But asked whether the $1 million spent on the electives in Gull Lake's Homeschool Partnership Program is a good use of tax dollars, she says it's a valid public-policy question.

"Gull Lake is trying to be innovative," she said, but "it is a zero-sum game" for funding, and money spent on one program means less money available for another.

"We want to make sure that we're investing wisely," she said. "We want to direct money to things that give the biggest bang for the buck, even as we maximize parent flexibility."

Ideally, she said, programs that reach out to nonpublic students should emphasize academics over recreational electives.

"From a policy perspective, it would be better to have kids taking classes in the Common Core (curriculum) than taking non-core classes," she said. "It's a great irony that the law allows us to use taxpayer money for something like music lessons" for nonpublic students "and not for something like math."

She said she'll be "very interested to see what Richard McLellan comes up with. ... The challenge is how do you accommodate all the very different needs" of students across the state.

Michael Rice, superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools, makes it clear where he stands.

"The state should be directing its money towards research-proven programs that drive student achievement," he said.

"When we have high schools in the state that don't have guidance counselors; when we have districts without librarians and school nurses; when you see class size going up; when you have schools that are closing ... the money should not be frittered away on frivolities."

Julie Mack is a reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact her at jmack1@mlive.com or 269-350-0277, or follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/kzjuliemack For all posts by Julie Mack, click here.