News Brief
State Schools Chief Proposes New System to Help Struggling Districts
Oakland Press (MI) (07/14/13) Murray, Diana DillaberMichigan Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Flanagan has proposed a hybrid system of county-wide school districts to help struggling local districts. The proposal calls for local school districts to pay intermediate districts to provide operational services, from administrative functions to curriculum development and staff training to transportation and food service. Doing so would save local districts millions of dollars that could be used in the classroom. "There still would be local school districts, with school boards and local administrators, however, with this hybrid system of countywide functions, local districts would be able to focus primarily on getting their students to higher levels of achievement and on educator evaluations," says Flanagan. "Realizing that such transitions may take time, legislation could be written to allow up to five years for this full transition."
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