House & Senate vote to pass HB 5526 : Creating A-F report card for Michigan schools

UPDATE: As of 8:30 PM on Tuesday, December 18, the Michigan Senate passed the A-F report card legislation with 21 votes. Now it will move forward to the Governor.

Two years ago, as the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) came in play and the Detroit school legislation began to set the table for statewide accountability legislation, MAPSA continued engaging stakeholders for feedback on school accountability best practices. This included public charter school leaders, management company executives, authorizers, education think-tank groups, business community members and key leaders from traditional schools and Intermediate School Districts.

We asked our members what was needed and appropriate in a school rating and accountability system. We held over 30 meetings in the past 2 years that encompassed over 250 people on this issue. And we heard you loud and clear! Overwhelmingly you all wanted ONE, statewide system that would remain constant.

Recapping all that, MAPSA is proud to report that HB 5526 was voted out of the House of Representatives last week. The bill, which will still need to be passed by the Senate before December 21, 2018 and signed by the Governor by January 1, 2019, encompasses the important elements you recommended for a new, statewide accountability system. Specifically, the bill does the following:

• Repeals the existing reporting and accountability process, including the state reform office defined in 1280c and replaces the report card for Detroit schools defined in the reform legislation passed in 2016. Creating one coherent accountability system for the entire state.
• Creates a statewide report card for each public school building in Michigan.
• The report card will give a letter grade for each of the following:
  • Proficiency, Growth, Graduation Rate, English Language Learner (ELL) growth toward proficiency, and a comparison to like districts based on demographics.
  • Attendance, participation rate, and subgroups will all have an indicator on the report card, but not a letter grade.
• Schools that receive the lowest grade in proficiency, growth, and the comparison will be identified as comprehensive support schools, needing interventions and supports.
• Schools that receive the highest grade in any of the above categories are reward schools.
• The Michigan Department of Education is designated as the entity to design the comprehensive support interventions (which will likely be the continuation of the partnership agreements).
• Allows for schools to be designated as alternative schools and use a different accountability system.

While this bill was passed during lame duck at 3 AM, it is not a piece of legislation written overnight. MAPSA worked hard to engage hundreds of interested educators and organizations across party lines to collaborate on this comprehensive bill which has been in the works for over three years, before ESSA was even rolled out.

Stay tuned for the discussion that will occur in the Senate this week as we continue to move forward in this process. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact MAPSA. We continue to prioritize and value input from our members on these very important issues.