DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – It would be a mistake for state officials to start closing underperforming Michigan schools for academic reasons because it would devastate communities while not improving student achievement, concerned educators said Wednesday.
Associations representing school boards, school administrators and urban districts spoke out before the impending release of a statewide list, issued annually, of the bottom 5 percent of public schools. The rankings are based on test results, students’ improvement over time, and the gap between the best and worst pupils.
The officials said that Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration told some school leaders this month that if their schools are on the list for three straight years – which will be clearer once another is made public this fall – they may be subject to closure for the 2017-18 academic year.
“There is no data that shows that moving a child from one school to another school against their choice has any positive impact on student achievement. Quite frankly, it has a negative impact on the children,” Chris Wigent, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators, told reporters during a news conference near Lansing.
In March of 2015, the Republican governor took control of an office charged with turning around the lowest-performing schools by transferring its functions to an agency whose director reports to him instead of the state Board of Education. He cited unsatisfactory progress and said no schools had been placed in Michigan’s turnaround district as authorized under a 2009 law.