


	August 11, 2011 Dear Friend Welcome to Michigan's Children's Detroit Neighborhoods Action Network. If you are receiving this, you have been connected to our Detroit Neighborhoods or School-Community partnership work through a variety of state or local efforts or have signed up for the network on our web site. We are using this network to provide timely information on a variety of topics related to promoting high school graduation in Michigan. Below you'll find: Information about the Michigan Bullying Prevention Summit A request to join the Coalition for Community Schools' efforts to impact the No Child Left Behind reauthorization Details about Michigan’s request to waive the testing requirements in No Child Left Behind A request from the National Youth Employment Coalition to continue support for Pell Grant funding Michigan Bullying Prevention Summit One of Michigan’s Children’s top legislative and administrative priorities is to ensure that all Michigan youth are ready for post‐secondary education, work and life. This readiness is predicated on success in a quality system of education. As Michigan’s Children listens to the voices of young people who have experienced challenges in their education around the state, many identify school safety as one of the factors influencing their decision to drop out of school and the need to feel safe and connected to their school and community in order to have long term educational success. Bullying is a serious problem for children of all ages – it has been associated with short and long term negative consequences including poor health, depression and suicide. To help communities address this issue and its potentially severe consequences, Michigan’s Children, along with 25 local, regional, and state level organizations have partnered with the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association (MEMSPA). The coalition includes a full spectrum of community stakeholders from child advocacy groups, mental health and physician’s organizations to law enforcement and school administration. The coalition is hosting the Michigan Bullying Prevention Summit on September 30, 2011. The Summit will feature nationally recognized speakers sharing what works in bullying prevention, as well as expert presenters form local institutions such as Cooley Law School, the Michigan State Police and MSU’s School of Social Work. The Summit will conclude with a town hall meeting aimed at identifying next steps. All concerned citizens are encouraged to participate. For more information about bullying policies and opportunities for action, read the most recent ISSUES for Michigan’s Children: Bullying and School Safety: Encouraging a Model Policy Through Comprehensive Legislation The Coalition for Community Schools Needs Your Support! As you may know, over the past several months, a core group of supporters of school-community partnerships (American Association of School Administrators, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, First Focus, Public Education Network, Save the Children, and United Way Worldwide) have pulled together an ESEA Statement on behalf of the entire Coalition. Michigan’s Children has signed on and we believe it is a powerful, compelling and persuasive ESEA statement. Despite the current political climate, the vision of community schools continues to grow and policymakers and education leaders are seeing the challenges of only addressing the academic dimensions of our children’s education. Check out the latest commentaries by Diane Ravitch (Waiting for a School Miracle) and Paul Reville (Why Attention Will Return to Non-School Factors). The Coalition is seeking more supporters – to add your organization to the list of signatories, e-mail Shital C. Shah at the Coalition for Community Schools at shahs@iel.org. Michigan’s Request for No Child Left Behind Testing Waiver Granted by US Department of Education Last week, the Michigan Department of Education requested a waiver of the proficiency requirements within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA or No Child Left Behind). ESEA requires that 100 percent of all students are proficient on state assessments by 2014. Given the increased high school graduation requirements and new rigorous cut scores the MDE requested a ten year extension in order to achieve 100 percent proficiency for all students. The waiver requires all Michigan students to achieve proficiency on the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) and Michigan Merit Exam (MME) by 2021. Anyone wishing to comment on the waiver may do so at arrawaiverresponse@michigan.gov by August 11, 2011. Debt Ceiling Deal Protects Pell Grants for Two Years The debt ceiling deal (Budget Control Act of 2011) signed into law by President Obama last week protects most of the Pell Grant program for low-income college students for the next two years. The agreement pays for most of the program’s costs by eliminating some payment options for graduate students, saving $18.1 billion, as well as repayment incentives for students who pay their loans on a timely basis, saving $3.5 billion. Out of the $21.6 billion in savings, $17 billion will go to the Pell grant program and $4.6 billion would go to deficit reduction. The members of the Congressional Super Committee charged with closing the $1.5 trillion shortfall by November 23rd are still being finalized, however two of Michigan’s Congressional Representatives, Dave Camp and Fred Upton, have been assigned to the Super Committee. This could give Michigan’s citizens an advantage in helping to preserve the maximum current Pell grant of $5,550. To voice your concerns about saving Pell grants, contact Congressman Camp and Congressman Upton. For more information about Youth Education and Employment, check out the National Youth Employment Coalition.
	Sincerely, Beth Bennett, MA Michele Corey Policy and Outreach Associate Vice President for Program beth@michganschildren.org michele@michiganschildren.org Michigan's Children 428 W. Lenawee Lansing, MI 48933 517/485-3500 FAX: 517/485-3650
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