Detroit Schools Deteriorated, Questions On $500 Million Bond

Public still awaits the full story

By Tom Gantert | August 4, 2016

During this past school year, the condition of the Detroit Public Schools’ buildings made national news.

For example, Detroit teacher Shalon Miller wrote about her poor working conditions in an article published by The Washington Post.

While the media coverage focused on the poor conditions of the schools, it did not mention that in November 2009, taxpayers approved a $500.5 million millage for DPS, specifically to improve the condition of the district's buildings.

Miller wrote in The Washington Post: “I wonder why my students are left in the worst conditions possible.” And she said Wednesday that taxpayers should have the same concerns.

But it’s unclear what that half a billion earmarked to improve DPS facilities was spent on. The district has yet to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request filed July 5 by Michigan Capitol Confidential asking for details of expenditures. School officials have confirmed the money has all been spent.

“Any concerned citizen would like to know where their tax dollars have gone,” Miller said. “Teachers want to know. We don’t know either. We haven’t had those answers either. Where is the money? We want to know also. Teachers have been screaming that from the rafters.”

Miller blamed the state of Michigan for the condition of the school buildings. “This is a state issue,” she said. “People want to put it in the lap of Detroit.”

Here’s an excerpt from Miller’s article: “Classrooms have old, drafty windows that are poorly insulated. In some rooms, we have to wear winter coats in class until lunch time. In other rooms, it can be ridiculously hot. Both temperature conditions are extremely distracting to the educational process. It’s hard for kids to concentrate when their hands are freezing or they’re sweating profusely. When it rains, water leaks into the classrooms from the roof. We have had to place buckets under the leaks and pray for dry weather. Unfixed structural damage causes water-soaked tiles to frequently fall from the ceiling of classrooms. The carpet has an ever-present moldy smell.”

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

Addressing the Shortcomings of Probation and Parole

Swift and Sure sanctions probation program a success

By Kahryn Riley | August 3, 2016

In 2004, a Hawaiian circuit court judge named Steven Alm launched a new program to ensure that his court dealt fairly and promptly with people on probation. Judge Alm found a simple solution to the shortcomings of the probation program.

The problem was that the consequences for probation violations were ineffective. A probation violation drew only warnings, no actual discipline. And probation violations began piling up. Eventually frustrated probation agents, with left with no alternatives, sent probationers to court, where they would receive a disproportionately severe punishment. “What a crazy way to try to change anybody’s behavior,” said Judge Alm.

So he started a program called Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement, or HOPE. The system is simple: probationers who violate the rules are immediately disciplined (within 72 hours) — every time. If a probationer accepts responsibility for the violation instead of running away or lying about it, his consequences are less severe.

This formula seems to have worked: A 2009 evaluation of the program showed that HOPE probationers were half as likely to be arrested for new crimes or to have their probation revoked and were nearly 75 percent less likely to use illicit drugs. News of HOPE’s successful use of “swift and sure sanctioning” spread and similar programs began cropping up all over the country.

Michigan began testing its own version of HOPE in 2011, when the Department of Corrections and the State Court Administrative Office received funding for a pilot program. They implemented the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program in Barry, Berrien, Isabella and Wayne counties, and, two years later, the Legislature passed the Probation Swift and Sure Sanctions Act, which provides funding to local governments that opt to implement the program.

An evaluation of the SSSPP participants in 2012 and 2013 revealed that they were 36 percent less likely to reoffend than participants in conventional probation programs and that these outcomes led to safer communities and lower corrections costs. Eighteen counties in Michigan are currently operating the SSSPP.

Current proposed legislation would create a similar program for parolees. The Michigan Senate recently passed Senate Bill 932, which would establish the Parole Sanction Certainty Act, an attempt to reduce recidivism and parole violations by using clear and evidence-based sanctions for parole violators. It relies on many of Judge Alm’s insights for connecting behavior with consequences in order to help parolees become more accountable and responsible. The House should give this legislation serious consideration as it appears to hold promise for improving how Michigan handles parolees.