House Bill 4047 of 2009 would declare the Detroit Public Schools to be a "first class" school district. State law defines "first class" as a public school district with more than 100,000 pupils, effectively meaning Detroit, because the second-largest district — Utica — has fewer than 30,000 students. One of the primary "benefits" of first-class status is that it prevents the creation of additional charter public schools within the city and thus insulates DPS from competition for pupils.

While the DPS pupil count for 1999-2000 stood at 173,848, it has since sharply declined to less than the 100,000-student threshold needed to retain the special protection. HB 4047 would grandfather in a pupil count of more than 100,000 for Detroit until at least July 1, 2010, thus extending the first-class status and protecting the district from additional charter school competitors.

Adding more charters within the city has been a major source of controversy, particularly with regard to DPS' largest public employee union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers. In 2003, multimillionaire philanthropist Robert Thompson proposed to donate $200 million for 15 brand-new charter high schools in the city, each with a 90 percent graduation rate guarantee. This proposed graduation rate would have been far higher than what was then reported by DPS high schools. 

Though the Legislature, governor and mayor of Detroit were all initially on board and ready to approve an expansion of the charter cap so as to allow the Thompson gift to take place, the DFT responded with a one-day walkout from class so its members could drive to Lansing and stage a 3,000-person protest in front of the Capitol. Without classes to attend, many students came with their teachers that day, leading to one of the largest protests the Capitol had seen in years. In response, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick withdrew his support and the deal fizzled. (Later, future Mayor Dave Bing arranged with Thompson to open one of his charter high schools within the city, and thus far it appears to be meeting its 90 percent graduation target.)

HB 4047, retaining the Detroit Public Schools' status as a "first class" district and protecting the district from additional charter school competition, was approved by the Michigan House on April 2 when five Republicans joined 66 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. There were 38 votes in opposition, all Republicans. The MichiganVotes.org vote tally is below.

The bill is now in the Senate Education Committee.

Ken Braun is the senior managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. He may be reached at author@mackinac.org. For additional information and an opportunity to comment on the legislation mentioned in this article, please see www.mackinac.org/10762.

TEA PARTIERS TAKE ON SPECIAL SENATE RACE

State Republican "insiders" speaking to the MIRS Capitol Capsule newsletter on June 26 (www.mirsnews.com — subscription required) warned that some TEA Party activists are trying to push a candidate for the state Senate "too far to the right." They refer to former state Rep. Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek, who is one of two Republicans seeking to fill a Michigan Senate vacancy created as a result of the previous officeholder winning a seat in the U.S. Congress last November. Republican primary voters will select either Nofs or James C. Wellman, R-Parma, in an Aug. 4 special primary election. The winner will face a Democratic opponent and Libertarian Greg Merle in a Nov. 3 special general election.

While Nofs is widely considered the favorite to win the GOP primary, one of the groups responsible for organizing a 5,000-person TEA Party at the Michigan Capitol on April 15 is actively seeking to inform GOP primary voters in the district that the former state representative is insufficiently sensitive to the pocketbook issues that most concern the TEA Party ("Taxed Enough Already") movement. A "Truth Squad Lit Drop" was conducted by the "New Patriot Revolution" in the Senate district on June 27 for the purpose of distributing fliers about "Mike Nofs' tax and spend record."

The fliers are headlined: "We like Mike Nofs. We just don't like his voting record." They use numerous votes that were covered in past issues of Michigan Capitol Confidential while Nofs was in office. Each is portrayed as a vote contrary to what the NPR believes is in the best interests of Michigan taxpayers. Most of the votes spotlight areas where Nofs voted with the Democratic majority, while many (if not most) of his fellow Republicans voted the other way.

The "number one reason" of 10 listed concerns on the flier regarding Nofs' legislative record was his being responsible "for $1.1 BILLION out of $1.4 billion of the spending created by the $1.4 billion tax hikes of 2007." As a point of comparison, the flier notes that four GOP state representatives then serving with Nofs voted for spending less than $7.6 million of the "tax fueled spending," and that many other GOP legislators stayed "well under $200 million." (This spending record for all legislators was profiled in the January/February 2008 Michigan Capitol Confidential.)

The NPR flier also notes that Nofs was one of just 16 Republicans to vote for a Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth budget "that increased general fund spending by nearly 60 percent" (see related story, "Left Behind," on the cover), and that he was one of three GOP representatives to vote against "allowing Terri Land to consolidate (Secretary of State) offices to save money." The flier suggests that the vote regarding Land's proposal "is a big one" because "faced with a (department) that WANTED to cut its spending, he [Nofs] voted to STOP it."

Perhaps interesting in relation to one of the Democrats seeking to win the special election, the NPR recounts that Nofs was one of three Republicans to vote to keep a "special benefit loophole" for the teacher retirement system, and one of four to vote to protect a "public school employee union's costly health benefit plan from competition" (www.mackinac.org/9136). Though a large majority of Democrats — along with Nofs — voted to protect these programs, state Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, is one of the few Democrats who broke ranks and voted with the Republicans in each case. This is significant because Griffin is one of two Democrats hoping to win the Aug. 4 special primary. (Sharon Renier, D-Munith, is the other Democrat seeking to win the primary.)

Michigan's largest "public school employee union" with the "costly health benefit plan" being protected in the vote mentioned above is the Michigan Education Association. Although most of its recommendations traditionally go to Democratic candidates, Nofs claims on his campaign Web site that the union has endorsed him in past races. And tellingly, MIRS ran a story in April speculating that the union may support Nofs in the special election because it was upset with Griffin for voting against its wishes on the health insurance matter. "He can have them," Griffin replied when confronted with this possibility.

For their part, the New Patriot Revolution has no intention of supporting any candidate for any office. "We don't elect politicians," says NPR spokesperson Wendy Day. "We un-elect them." 

For additional information and an opportunity to comment on these issues, please see www.mackinac.org/10762.