Educational Reforms #39

We believe all Michigan children should have an equal opportunity for quality education. Education at all levels must meet the constantly changing needs of society. We support legislation that would:

• Create a tax credit for up to half the tuition cost of higher education.
• Allow parents who choose to send their K-12 student to a private school or home school to receive a state of Michigan tax credit that shall equal the cost of tuition up to 50 percent of the foundation grant per student per year.
• Require state foundation grant aid reimbursement be determined by June 1 of each year.
• Fund special education programs for teacher training, children with special needs and gifted children.
• Fully fund state mandated programs whether new or amended. Funding for state mandated programs should not decrease the basic pupil grant for other Michigan students.
• Ensure the per pupil foundation funding grant follows the student to the school of their choice.
• Require state school aid funding to reflect current year enrollment based on average student attendance, and eliminate the official count day.
• Increase added-cost funding for vocational training programs.

We further support:

• Charter schools and home schooling.
• Local school boards should have the ability to establish policies such as starting and ending dates, classroom hours in a school year, personnel management, student discipline, and use of local facilities/resources.
• Collaboration between the local school district and Intermediate School District to establish a uniform calendar.
• The utilization of Farm Bureau members and organizational resources to assist locally in reviewing classroom curriculum for accurate information concerning agriculture before its adoption.
• Michigan colleges and universities offering dual credit opportunities for high school students.
• Michigan colleges and universities offering agriscience instructor certification.

In cases of school district consolidation, existing FFA and agriscience programs in any of the consolidating districts should be maintained as part of the curriculum of the successor consolidated district.

We encourage the Legislature to review the foundation funding grant for education. We support aid, limited to the rate of inflation, to districts operating under caps. School districts must exercise fiscal responsibility and look for efficiencies that will maximize the use of financial resources.

We support Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, (STEM) education in K-12 and acknowledge that agricultural education is an effective vehicle to deliver this programming. We encourage county Farm Bureaus to highlight opportunities for school districts to meet STEM requirements through agricultural concepts.

We encourage Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers, Michigan Farm Bureau, and other stakeholders to work with legislators and the Department of Education on flexibility within the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) to allow students to enroll in CTE classes. We urge county Farm Bureaus to work with local school districts to increase MMC flexibility acceptance. MMC standards must be balanced to recognize the importance of CTE and provide more opportunities for students to enroll in vocational training programs and mentor-based programs.

A well-rounded education containing basic curriculum, including college-prep or vocational/technical courses, should be an attainable and achievable goal for all students. We urge school counselors and faculty to be aware of and inform students about opportunities in the field of agriculture and vocational training. Furthermore, we encourage counselors’ continuing education courses encompass CTE opportunities.

We oppose Common Core State Standards.