The director of the Michigan Film Office agreed with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's report that exposed a suspect studio deal involving $10 million in tax subsidies.

Janet Lockwood, director of the state's film office, stated the Hangar42 deal "looked so promising. But it's not" in an e-mail dated May 20. The Mackinac Center acquired the e-mail in a Freedom of Information Act request.

Hangar42 involves a former Lear Inc. facility that was listed for $9.8 million last fall that an investor claims is now worth $40 million. That increase in value means $10 million to the investor, who is seeking a 25 percent film credit. Meanwhile, many of the contractors have complained they haven't been paid for the work they did.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm touted the project in her annual State of the State address last January, which Lockwood lamented the e-mail:

I feel completely responsible after encouraging the Gov. to mention this project. They've received not a penny but perception is all. If it will help, I'm happy to claim fault and deflect it from the front office. So disappointing, it looked so promising. But it's not. This time I am agreeing with the Mac Center.

Last week, on June 9, three weeks after the e-mail, the Michigan Film Office announced Lockwood's retirement.

Lockwood hasn't responded to an e-mail asking for reasons for the retirement.

Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Gov. Granholm's office, didn't respond Monday to an e-mail requesting comment.

"If Studio42 is not a good deal, as Lockwood writes, the governor should publicly announce this herself," said Michael LaFaive, the director of the Mackinac Center's Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, who broke the story with colleague Kathy Hoekstra. "A state economic development system that rewards politicians for making jobs announcements, but does not hold them accountable when jobs fail to materialize is a perverse one. Words cost politicians nothing, but they can cost taxpayers everything."

The e-mails also show there was some confusion among the Michigan Economic Development Corp. officials about the status of the tax credit involving Hangar42.

Lockwood states that Hangar42 was granted "an infrastructure tax credit in December 2009, agreement signed by the film office and Treasury. These credits must be earned by performance, they are not a given. They have submitted a request for the $10 million credit saying the funds have been spent on the facility. The request is under review, no date nor approval certain, which is standard operating procedure. This is neither an entitlement or an automatic credit."

Mike Shore, the MEDC spokesman, replied that he thought Hangar42 had not been approved for anything.

Then Penny Launstein, vice president of Michigan Retention and Growth for the MEDC, wrote, "Two step process — first the agreement is approved, then once they incur costs, they can apply for the actual credit. Their credit has not been approved yet so all they have received is our promise to consider the credit."

LIFO stands for "last in, first out" and describes how nearly all Michigan school districts choose which teachers to lay off when downsizing becomes a necessity. The Michigan Education Association union bargains for LIFO in school employee contracts, yet ironically, it profiled a Jackson teacher who fell victim to the practice in the latest edition of its monthly magazine, the "MEA Voice."

Sarah Cunningham is an English and history teacher in Jackson. The MEA Voice praises her accomplishments of earning an M.A. from Concordia University, writing two books and contributing to many others. It includes an excerpt from one of her books, a personal story that demonstrates Cunningham's concern for her students and commitment to be a positive role model.

The profile also mentioned that Cunningham writes a blog. Not covered in the union's article but described on her blog, the Jackson teacher received a pink slip from her school district. Cunningham expressed surprise, yet this is not the first time she has been impacted by seniority-based staffing decisions. In each of the past three years, she has found herself shuffled into a new teaching slots, purely on the basis of seniority.

As declining enrollments and rising labor costs force many districts into downsizing in Michigan schools, such disruptions are all too common. Young teachers in particular may feel helpless when forced to endure seniority-based staffing decisions.

The problem is that the practice completely disregards classroom performance and the best interest of students. School boards are forbidden by union contracts from considering a teacher's performance, work ethic, parental satisfaction or any other factor except for the individual's time on the job.

Proponents of seniority-based staffing might argue that boiling staffing decisions down to a simple numbers game is the only way to ensure equal treatment. Yet how fair is it really to treat teachers who provide more value to students, parents and the community no differently from ones who provide less value?

Our public school system does not exist to serve teachers. Taxpayers fund the system at extraordinarily generous levels to maximize the opportunities for the community's children, not the comfort and convenience of school employees. LIFO serves the latter at the expense of the former.