Right on topBy Curt
Guyette How the right-wing politics rule the state school board
The Big MAC
Attack Political
Casualties Onward Christian
Scholars |
When looking for a weather vane to determine the direction Michigan public schools are moving, the State Board of Education offers a good indicator of which way the educational wind is blowing. At the moment, the arrow is pointed in the direction of the hard right. "The way I see it, this school board wants to carry out the traditional right-wing agenda of vouchers and providing aid to non-public schools," contends liberal board member Kathleen Straus. "But they never really come out and say what they want to do is dismantle the public school system." Social conservatives scored a major coup with the election of Clark Durant to the board in 1995. Hand-picked by Engler to run for the post, even though his only experience regarding education was as a board member of the nondenominational Cornerstone private schools--Durant announced his arrival as board president with a new vision statement: "We, the Michigan State Board of Education, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, do earnestly desire to secure these blessings undiminished for our children," he wrote. "Religion, morality, and knowldege are necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, so therefore schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Only Straus, one of two Democrats on the eight-member board, refused to sign the statement. Among those joining Durant in support of the vision were Marilyn Lundy and Gary Wolfram. Lundy, who served as an advisor to TEACH Michigan and was president of the League of Catholic Women, originally took her seat on the board as an Engler appointee. Wolfram is a former Engler administration appointee and Mackinac Center policy adviser. The next major order of business pushed by Durant was for the board was to float a proposal that would turn schools into corporations and users into "shareholders." "That one was too loony even for the Republicans," chides Straus. More recently, the board undertook the task of rewriting the state's School Code. According to a 1993 battle plan drafted for TEACH Michigan, that action came right on schedule when the changes were made by the board on '95. In doing so, the religious right accomplished one of its primary goals by installing a provision that gives parents the ultimate right to decide what their children will be taught. That is a drastic change, observes Linda Bruin, legal counsel for the Michigan Association of School Boards. "Prior to this, parents have always had a voice," she says. "But when push came to shove, it was the school system that had final say on the curriculum. That's gone now." Another victory came when the board approved a proposal to eliminate a mandated core curriculum. Other proposals approved by the board include increasing the number of charter schools as well as expanding the list of agencies able to issue charters. The board has also proposed broadening the definition of public schools, a move the American Civil Liberites Union sees as an attempt to "evade" the Michigan Constitution's prohibition of aid to private schools. "What we're seeing here is clearly orchestrated," says Howard Simon, director of the Michigan ACLU. "And it's just as clear that it's coming out of the governor's office." |