This afternoon the 1,300-member Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber issued the following statement regarding Governor Rick Snyder’s failed education experiment with Detroit students known as the Education Achievement Authority:
The A2Y Chamber’s Executive Board held a deliberation on HB 4369, legislation to expand the Education Achievement Authority (EAA). The A2Y Chamber encourages the Michigan Legislature to reject the current House version of the bill, which would effectively establish the EAA to operate all Priority Schools in Michigan (those where student achievement fall within the lowest 5% of Michigan schools). The EAA currently operates a number of Detroit schools under a contract with the state, however just this week State Superintendent Mike Flanagan cancelled that exclusive contract with the EAA.Given this recent development, and the lack of a sufficient track record for the relatively new EAA, the Chamber believes it is premature to allow the EAA statutory authority to expand further. Expanding and further empowering the EAA at this point could have wide reaching policy consequences that may not be in the best interest of students or taxpayers. The Chamber applauds the legislature’s efforts to help turn around our Michigan’s Priority Schools, but urges the legislature to consider a range of alternatives for reaching this goal
These sorts of statements are eminently helpful because they show that this not a partisan issue, nor is it an issue that affects only Detroit. If the failed EAA model is expanded statewide, it’s a model that could very soon come to a school near you.
