Upcoming Event: A Parent’s Guide to Education in Michigan

There will be three direct discussion sessions and one question and answer session to the Parent’s Guide to Education Forum hosted jointly by the school districts and Education Associations from the communities of: Novi, Farmington, Livonia, Plymouth-Canton, South Lyon, Walled Lake, and Waterford.

Date/Time: Monday, May 13, 6-9 p.m.

Location: Novi Middle School Auditorium
(49000 Eleven Mile Road, Novi, Michigan 48374 – Located at the North East corner of Eleven Mile and Wixom Roads)

Seating will be on a first come first served basis. Doors open at 5:00 PM.

Agenda:

6:15-6:45
Introduction and Welcome

  • Welcoming remarks from Superintendents Steve Matthews (Novi) and Susan Zurvalec (Farmington), EA Presidents Tom Brenner and David Workman. Topic: What is the state of Michigan’s responsibility toward educating its population? How do we measure our performance?
  • Introduction of Panelists (9-12 total) – Two Minute Self-Introductions

-         Governor Snyder Representative (Bill Rustem confirmed)
-         Local School Administrator (TBD)
-         State School Board Members (all confirmed John Austin, Michelle Fecteau, Casandra Ulbrich, Eileen Weiser)
-         School of Ed (University) Representatives
-         State Legislators (preferably from the House and Senate Education Committee – confirmed State Senator Phil Pavlov, State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood, State Representative Hugh Crawford, State Representative Ellen Cogen Lipton)
-         Teacher (confirmed Novi HS Science teacher Brian Langley)

6:45-7:15
Session 1 – Student Performance/Effective Schools

7:15-7:45
Session 2 – Teacher Recruitment/ Professional Development/Evaluation

7:45-8:15
Session 3 – Public Finance of Education

8:15-9:00
Session 4 – Question and Answer with Audience

Each Panelist will be given the questions ahead of time and be asked to be prepared to answer questions in 2 of the 3 primary sessions. Each session will consist of a discussion of two-three questions where the panelists will have an opportunity to answer and then address issues brought up by other panelists. Each speaker will have a time limit on their responses (2 minutes). Moderator reserves the right to redirect panelists to directly answer the question or respond to another panelist’s remarks. Audience will have the opportunity to directly ask questions of the panelists to conclude the event.

Hosted by: Novi Community Schools, Novi Education Association, Farmington Public Schools and the Farmington Education Association.

Moderated by WXYZ Channel 7 Anchor JoAnne Purtan.

Attended by key local and state stakeholders.

Contact: Tom Brenner, 248-449-1500, tbrenner@novi.k12.mi.us

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Livonia PTSA Council 2013-2014 Slate of Officers Announced

President: Liz Jarvis
Vice-President: John Grzebik
Second Vice-President: Julie Thompson
Treasurer: Stacey Dogonski (Open)
Recording Secretary: Karen Werden
Corresponding Secretary: Allison Johnson

The Livonia PTSA Council officers’ election will be held at the general/annual membership meeting April 17, at 6:30 P.M. at the Livonia Career Technical Center. Additional nominations will be taken from the floor. Those eligible to vote shall hold a membership in a unit with a good standing status. Voting by proxy shall be prohibited.

The Nominating Committee was led by John Grzebik and included Allison Johnson and Stacey Dogonski.

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Celebrate Founders Day on February 6th

Livonia PTSA Council presents the 59th Annual Founders’ Day Celebration
The Magic of a Moment
Wednesday, February 6, 2013

VisTaTech Center, Schoolcraft College
18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia, Michigan
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Join us to celebrate the founding of PTA in America, and the accomplishments of PTAs and PTSAs in Livonia. Help us to honor top Livonia High School Seniors and Livonia Teachers of the Year. Winners of the PEP program will be announced, and many others will be recognized.

Everyone welcome!

Tickets: $20 each. Tables seat eight.

Please contact Julie Thompson at julie.thompson@livoniaptsacouncil.org with questions.

More details at 
http://livoniaptsacouncil.org/work/founders-day
.

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State Legislation on Education

It appears that in the coming weeks we may see a significant flurry of legislative activity in Lansing related to education. We encourage our members to be informed and to make your opinions known to your Senators and Representatives.

Livonia PTSA Council co-sponsored a recent parent forum with the Farmington and Walled Lake PTA Councils where school funding was discussed. Below are the slides from the presentation, a video of the forum, and a link to an article about the forum.

Forum Presentation

Video: 
http://tv-10.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=43c26597cdaf0bb74260e367d6d6e028

Article: 
http://farmington-mi.patch.com/articles/harrison-alum-talks-to-parents-about-scary-school-legislation

Senate Bill 620 was passed by the Senate in June and is currently awaiting hearings in the House Education Committee. Commonly known as a “parent trigger” law, this bill would allow the creation of what are being called conversion charter schools. If a school is in the bottom 5% of the Persistently Low-Achieving (PLA) list, this bill would allow for it to be taken over by a vote of 60% of eligible parents/legal guardians of that school OR a vote of 51% of the parents and 60% of the teachers. Should the vote pass, parents would be allowed to shut down the school, convert it to a charter school, or force the district to replace the principal and up to half of the staff. The parents could contract with an Education Management Organization (EMO) to operate the charter school, and the district would be forced to lease the building to the charter school for $1 per year.

Both the Michigan Education Association and the Michigan Association of School Boards oppose this legislation. The prevailing wisdom in Lansing is that it is unlikely to gain much support for a number of reasons. First, lawmakers are concerned about using the PLA list as the determinant of eligibility for the parent take-over since the PLA list features only Title I schools. Secondly, there is concern about opening up the state to significant legal challenges by allowing public property to be seized, possibly against the will of taxpayers as a whole. Finally, there is the question of voter fraud – which parents/legal guardians will be allowed to vote? Do they have to be taxpayers, or registered voters? Could a child’s parent who lives out of state vote for the takeover? These issues were raised by lawmakers in the first hearing on the bill, and their concerns would have to be addressed through a revision of the bill for it to have a realistic chance of moving forward.

One of the most vocal advocates for parent trigger legislation is Michelle Rhee of StudentsFirst. She claims that parent trigger laws help students who are trapped in struggling schools. “It’s a law families can rely on to bring about change when their children are trapped in a school that isn’t meeting their kids’ needs.(…) We can’t expect parents and kids to be patient while slow-moving reforms take root.” Critics of the law argue that Michigan already has plans in place to help struggling schools, including new options put in place via the waiver from No Child Left Behind requirements that the Department of Education issued to Michigan in July.

Critics also argue that the parent trigger is an untested reform that hasn’t been proven to produce better outcomes for students. Dr. Vickie Markavitch, Superintendent of Oakland Schools, questions their effectiveness and claims that parent choice isn’t really a choice at all. “Choice without information about quality (of the charter school), choice without transparency for how resources are going to be used is not really a choice at all – it is a guess. The parent trigger bill is nothing more than a shot in the dark. Our kids deserve more than guesses.” The National Education Policy Center is also highly critical of the parent trigger concept, stating that “research indicates that “pulling the trigger” is not likely to yield any benefits,” and that “opportunities to learn and authentic community involvement are not addressed or created by the approach.”

Michigan PTA’s Advocacy Committee is formulating a response to this legislation and would appreciate our members’ thoughts and input. If you would like to share your impressions of these laws or your feelings on their usefulness in Michigan, please contact President Elect Teresa Marhofer at presidentelect@michiganpta.org no later than close of business on Monday. Given the urgency of this matter and the speed with which our Legislature moves, time is of the essence.

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Dine at Noodles & Co. and Support Coolidge PTA

Date: October 29, 2012 Time: 4-9 pm Location: Noodles & Co., Plymouth & Middlebelt in Livonia Eat In or Take Out from 4-9 pm. Coolidge PTA will earn 25% of the sales for everyone who orders and mentions Coolidge PTA or … Continue reading

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Welcome!

Welcome to the Livonia PTSA Council’s website. Here you will find information about the Livonia PTSA Council and individual PTA/PTSA units within the Livonia Public Schools District. Other information you will find here includes meeting schedules, events, committees, and more.

Did you know that by joining your local PTA or PTSA unit you automatically become a member of the largest PTSA council in Michigan?

Each unit membership you purchase includes the $0.50 Livonia PTSA Council dues. For only $0.50 per member, Livonia PTSA Council provides a wide range of programs and support activities including:

  • Leadership Training
  • Reflections Program (including ceremonies and awards)
  • Masterworks
  • Early Literacy Volunteers (ELVs)
  • Youth Making a Difference
  • Informational Website
  • District-wide Newsletter (The Council Courier)
  • Legislative and Advocacy Programs
  • Membership Assistance
  • LPS Competitive Edge
  • Galileo Project (Teacher Training)
  • Council Directory
  • Hospitality at General Membership Meetings
  • Parenting Magazines
  • Founders Day Celebration

If you aren’t yet a member of a local PTA/PTSA unit, join your local unit and begin participating as a member of Livonia PTSA Council.

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