Home

Advocacy

Legislature to Pass FY '11 School Aid Budget
Jul 01, 2010 - July 1, 2010 Legislature to Pass FY ’11 School Aid Budget Foundation Grant increased by $11 per pupil for this year and next year Last night the Senate-Ho...

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY

One of the primary responsibilities of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies is to communicate the charter school message to elected officials, opinion leaders and the news media.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

MAPSA is always working to cultivate relationships with media reporters and editors across the state, as the work of the news media is a primary force in molding public opinion on important policy issues in the state.

We are YOUR resource for dealing with the media, whether it's a "good news" story or a response to an emergency or incident at your school. Please contact us if you have any questions, issues or concerns about local news media coverage.

Click here for Press Releases from MAPSA.

LEGISLATION

MAPSA is regularly engaged in behind-the-scenes strategic conversations about pending legislation, building awareness of charter public schools and working to support children and families.

Even though less than 10% of all bills introduced actually become law, it is important that we are actively engaged in the legislative process in order to protect the interests of our schools, our members, our teachers, our parents and our students.

You may contact your legislators or committee members on your own or you may be called upon through our advocacy process to express your support or concern for individual bills.

Click here for Legislative Bulletins from MAPSA.

LINKS OF INTEREST

KEY MEDIA LINKS

Click here for tips on contacting your elected official!!

CURRENT LEGISLATIVE SESSION - BILLS WE'RE WATCHING

[NOTE: The list below is a partial list of bills impacting charter schools. Please CLICK HERE to access all bills currently pending in the House Education Committee, and CLICK HERE to access all bills currently pending in the Senate Education Committee.

Bill	Description	MAPSA Position	Referred To	Committee Action	Chamber Action	Referred To	Committee Action	Chamber Action	Final Status
SB 56 Switalski (D)	Replace MEAP test	Neutral	Education
SB 84 Whitmer (D)	School district's use of sinking funds	Oppose	Education
SB 0117 Clark-Coleman (D)	K-3 class size reduction	TBD	Education
SB 0119 Clark-Coleman (D)	Collective Bargainning for school administrators	Support	Education
SB 0122 Clark-Coleman (D)	Mandatory full-day kindergarten	Oppose	Education
SB 0279 Switalski (D)	Prohibit the sale of soft drinks in schools	TBD	Education
SB 0369 Olshove (D)	Require building site approval by local government	Oppose	Education
SB 0451 Clarke (D)	Provide for reorganization of failing schools	TBD	Education
SB 0452 Clarke (D)	Financial incentives for performance in core classes	TBD	Education
SB 0453 Clarke (D)	Incentive pay for teachers at certain failing schools	TBD	Education
SB 0564 Van Woerkom (R)	Enrollment priority for certain pupils with school agreement	Support	Education
SB 636 Kuipers (R)	Create neighborhood public schools	Support	Education
SB 698 Kuipers (R)	Modify mathematics graduation requirements	Support	Education	Passed 8/19/2009	Passed 8/19/2009	Education
SB 0925 Thomas (D)	Establish Schools of Excellence	Support	Education	Passed 12/2/2009	Passed 12/2/2009	Education
SB 0926 Thomas (D)	Funding for Schools of Excellence	Support	Education	Passed 12/2/2009	Passed 12/2/2009	Education	Conference Committee 12/17/2009	Enrolled 12/19/2009	PA 203
SB 0965 Kuipers (R)	Alternate teacher certification	Support	Education	Passed 12/2/2009	Passed 12/2/2009	Education
SB 0981 Kuipers (R)	Establish Schools of Excellence	Support	Education	Passed 12/2/2009	Passed 12/2/2009	Education	Conference Committee 12/17/2009	Enrolled 12/19/2009	PA 205
SB 1163 Jelinek (R)	Multisection school aid approps	TBD	Approps	Passed 3/24/2010	Passed 5/26/2010	House Substitute not concurred	Conference Committee 6/11/2010
SB 1226 Jansen (R)	Changes to state employees retirement system	TBD	Approps	Passed 4/14/2010	Passed 4/14/2010	Oversight & Investigations
SB 1227 Gilbert (R)	Changes to public school employee retirement	Support	Approps	Passed 4/14/2010	Passed 4/15/2010	Oversight & Investigations	Conference Committee 4/28/2010	Enrolled 5/18/2010	PA 075
SB 1229 Jelinek (R)	Consolidation of school transportation services	TBD	Reforms and Restructuring
HB 4030 Geiss (D)	Compulsory age for attendance	Neutral	Education	Passed 3/4/2009	Passed 3/4/2009	Education
HB 4047 Scott (D)	Change No. of pupils required for first class district status	Oppose	Education	Passed 4/2/2009	Passed 4/2/2009	Education
HB 4058 Lemmons (D)	State assumption of deficits incurred while under reform board	Neutral	Approps
HB 4063 Lemmons (D)	Allow comm. college to act as authorizer in 1st class school district	Support	Education
HB 4214 Gregory (D)	School building site approval	Oppose	Education
HB 4235 Nathan (D)	Require foreign language instruction	TBD	Education
HB 4236 Nathan (D)	Require instruction re: diet & health in grades 3-12	TBD	Education
HB 4262 Liss (D)	Reduce K-3 class sizes over a 5-year period	TBD	Education
HB 4346 Slavens (D)	Require legislature to work toward equal foundation grant	Support	Approps
HB 4407 Espinoza (D)	Unusual conditions for counting pupil instruction hours	Oppose	Education
HB 4410 Sheltrown (D)	Allow for general dipolma curriculum as alternative for graduation requirement	Oppose	Education	Passed 9-2-2009	Passed 9-2-2009	Education
HB 4420 Miller (D)	Classroom assignments for multiple birth siblings	Support	Education
HB 4490 McMillin (R)	Eliminate cap on number of charter schools	Support	Education
HB 4511 Geiss (D)	Modify math graduation and personal curriculum requirements	Support	Education	Passed 8/26/2009	Pased 8/26/2009	Education
HB 4644 Johnson (D)	Require school attendance to maintain drivers license	Support	Education
HB 4645 Johnson (D)	Family division of courts to notify SOS of truency	Support	Education
HB 4712 Jackson (D)	Require smaller class size in underperforming schools	TBD	Education
HB 4760 Genetski (R)	Allow for majors in accounting and writing to qualify for teacher certification	Support	Education
HB 4761 Genetski (R)	Require course in English language grammer, punctuation and usage before getting teacher certification	Support	Education
HB 4787 Melton (D)	To provide for certain measures to identify and restructure failing schools	Support	Education	Passed 6/25/2009	Passed 7/15/2009	Education	Returned to House with Amendment 12/9/2009	Enrolled 12/30/2009	PA 204
HB 4788 Johnson (D)	Provide for changes in collective bargaining act to allow more flexibility in failing schools	Support	Education	Passed 6/25/2009	Passed 7/15/2009	Education	Returned to House with Amendment 12/9/2009	Enrolled 12/30/2009	PA 201
HB 4860 T. Brown (D)	Supplemental Appropriations		Appropriations	Passed 11/10/2009	Passed 11/10/2009	Appropriations
HB 5163 Wheeler Smith (D)	Mandate Sex Education	Oppose	Judiciary	Passed 3/24/2010	Passed 3/24/2010	Education
HB 5237 Pavlov (R)	Provide for school aid funding to schools that convert to charters	TBD	Education
HB 5238 Pavlov (R)	Provide for the establishment of conversion schools	TBD	Education
HB 5545 Lindberg (D)	Reduce state aid if transporation is not offered	Oppose	Appropriations
HB 5561 Miller (D)	Mandatory school district consolidation	TBD	Education
HB 5596 Pavlov (R)	Alternative teacher certification	Support	Education	Passed 12/10/2009	Passed 12/10/2009	Education	Passed 12/19/2009	Enrolled 12/19/2009	PA 202
HB 5954 Moss (R)	Changes to state employees retirement system	TBD	Oversight and Investigations

2007-08 LEGISLATIVE SESSION - BILLS WE WATCHED THAT BECAME LAW

Bill	Description	MAPSA Position	Referred To	Committee Action	Chamber Action	Referred To	Committee Action	Chamber Action	Final Status
SB 0194 Switalski (D-10)	Financial responsibility for SDA students	Support	Approps 2/13/2007	Passed 4/25/2007	Passed 4/26/2007	Approps 4/26/2007	Passed 6/6/2007	Enrolled 6/7/2007	PA 021
SB 0834 Switalski (D-10)	Financial literacy course as a math course	Support	Education 10/17/2007	Passed 4/15/2008	Passed 5/13/2008	Education 5/13/2008	Passed 9/16/2008	Passed 9/18/2008	PA 316
SB 1096 Jelinek (R-21)	FY 2009 Dept of Education Budget	Support	Approps 2/13/2008	Passed 3/25/2008	Passed 3/25/2008	Approps 4/8/2008	Passed 6/5/2008	Enrolled 6/27/2008	PA 212
SB 1107 Jelinek (R-21)	FY 2009 School Aid Budget	Support	Approps 2/13/2008	Passed 3/26/2008	Passed 3/26/2008	Approps 4/8/2008	Conference 6/17/2008	Enrolled 7/24/2008	PA 268
HB 5375 Melton (D-29)	Establish Michigan promise zones	Support	Education 10/25/2007	Passed 12/13/2007	Passed 12/13/2007	Education 1/9/2008	Passed 12/19/2008	Presented to Governor 12/30/2008	PA 550

News Headlines

View the News Archive