Education Reform

By Jack McHugh | Jan. 14, 2009

(Editor's note: These Recommendations were updated in April 2010. Click here for a PDF of the original version.)

51	Adopt a constitutional amendment authorizing a universal tuition tax credit of up to half of the state's per-pupil spending allotment to support the education of a child attending the school of his or her family's choice. » www.mackinac.org/362
52	Require school districts to contract school transportation, food and custodial services through open and competitive bidding. » www.mackinac.org/9021
53	Place new school employees under a defined-contribution, 401(k)-type pension plan, rather than a defined-benefit system. » www.mackinac.org/8089
54	Require districts to offer school employees health savings accounts along with conventional health insurance plans. » www.educationreport.org/8827
55	Let high school students take mandatory high school courses from community colleges. » www.educationreport.org/11653
56	Other than those grants required by the courts or by federal law, eliminate all "categorical grants" for state-specified school spending items, and use that money to increase unencumbered per-pupil foundation allowances. » www.mackinac.org/8584
57	Eliminate intermediate school districts (ISDs). » www.mackinac.org/5678
58	Expand public school choice programs to allow all students in all districts, not just those students within a certain proximity, to attend public schools outside their district. » www.mackinac.org/3272
59	Adopt a "Michigan Teachers' Bill of Rights" that frees individual teachers from standardized union contracts and gives them the choice to be judged and compensated based on their performance. » www.mackinac.org/1660
60	Repeal teacher certification requirements. » www.mackinac.org/1651
61	Revise the Michigan Teachers' Tenure Act to allow school districts to adopt a full-fledged teacher merit-pay system. » www.mackinac.org/9804
62	Eliminate the restrictions on the number of charter schools that can be authorized by state universities. » www.educationreport.org/8043