A statewide reform school district could become the largest in Michigan over the next five years.
The Education Achievement Authority of Michigan (EAA)—the district instituted in 2011 to operate the lowest performing five percent of schools in the state—may add as many as 45 schools reports Lori Higgins of the Detroit Free Press.
From the Free Press:
Districts impacted would lose funding for students in any school that is transferred to the EAA, and workers would lose their union protections because the reform district isn't unionized. "All districts across the state who have schools on the ... list know there's a possibility we might have a presence in their districts," EAA Chancellor John Covington said.
Schools ranked in the bottom five percent would have three years to improve before being place under the control of the EAA.
The details of EAA’s expansion were revealed in the summary of a grant received from the U.S. Department of Education Higgins reports.
The grant will provide $5.9 million in the next two years -- and possibly $35 million over three years if Congress continues funding -- for the EAA to institute incentives for great teaching and school leadership. The grant application indicates the project would affect 60 schools altogether, nearly 46,000 students and more than 2,200 teachers. The grant is based on those assumptions, so it would have to be adjusted if anything changes.
A spokesperson for the Governor said the bottom line for the EAA was finding new ways to help struggling schools.
As Michigan Radio reported, there are currently 15 schools under the EAA's control.
- Jordan Wyant, Michigan Radio Newsroom
