The Michigan Legislature has enacted some sweeping changes in the state’s tenure laws for public school teachers. Good. It’s about time schools stopped acting like factories–at least in their personnel policies.

If my quick review of the Legislature’s website is correct, the changes are made in HB4625,HB4626, HB4627, and HB4628.

Michigan, by the way, is following in the footsteps of other states, including Florida and Indiana.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, definitely the nerd that Rick Snyder advertises himself as being, outlined his agenda at a speech (PDF) at the American Enterprise Institute. Indiana, he said, addressed four major “buckets” of education reform:

1. Teacher quality
2. Giving principals freedom to lead
3. Options for families
4. Options for students

Here’s a quick review of the major changes Indiana has enacted this year.

Teacher quality: “Teachers will be evaluated once a year, with an eye towards student growth. “Hiring, promotion, salary – everything will now be based on performance and not seniority and not paper credentials.”

Schools: Schools will be graded on a scale of A-F.

Teacher certification: Teachers will have to get subject-matter expertise for certification.

Bargaining — will be limited to wages and benefits, so principals won’t be limited by contract provisions that, for example, say that teachers can be observed in the classroom only five days’ notice. Also, contracts can be only as long as the state budget cycle–two years,

Governance — move school board elections from the spring (when nobody votes) to the fall.

Charter schools get a boost by laws that make it easier for them to claim buildings that public school districts have stopped using, and by letting private (in addition to public) colleges serve as authorizers.

Vouchers — now open to about 60 percent of the state’s population, though interestingly enough, Daniels says he expect five percent of the state’s students, at most, will use vouchers to attend private schools.

College scholarships: Students who graduate early get money for college scholarships. Daniels quips, “we will give them money that we’re going to spend on an otherwise fun-filled cruise through senior year.” [As a former high-achieving high school student, I can confirm that cruising happens.]

I haven’t seen the final language that the Legislature put together, so I don’t know how their reforms compare to what Indiana did. They appear to be much less comprehensive, but it’s a start.

First published by the Detroit News.

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