[Rhodes22-list] Some Public School Programs Work Pretty Well

[Roger Pihlaja]

Here in Michigan, we have a test called the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP).  It tests skills in math, science, reading, writing, and critical thinking.  Students that score highly in the 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th grades on all sections of the MEAP test can earn up to $3000 towards attending a Michigan college.  Our older son, Daniel, maxed out on the MEAP award money & it helped tremendously in paying for his college at Northern Michigan University (NMU).  So far, our younger son, Gary, is on track to max out as well.  I've seen the MEAP test & it seems like a pretty reasonable tool to access a student's level of development.  But, the MEAP test has been controversial here in Michigan as well.  Lots of educators don't like it for all the reasons cited in the earlier posts on this subject.

Schools of choice also seems to work pretty well here in Michigan.  Again, both of our sons have benefited.  We live in the Meridian School District, a rural area that is not very wealthy.  Meridian High School does not have a very good vocational education program.  However, they supplement their program by participating in a magnet school program with the Bay-Arenac Skill Center, located in Bay City, MI.  Note that the Bay-Arenac Skill Center is located in another county, about 30 miles away.  The Meridian School District pays tuition and provides bus transportation for our students to & from the Bay-Arenac Skill Center.  The program is a half day, 5 days/week.  Meridian High School students either take their morning or afternoon classes at Meridian and then the other half of the school day at the Bay-Arenac Skill Center.  Daniel took 2 years of Computer Aided Design classes at the Bay-Arenac Skill Center, which has been very helpful in his Graphic Arts/Electronic Imaging major up at NMU.  Gary has benefited from this program even more than Daniel.  Last year, Gary took his first year of Criminal Justice at the Bay-Arenac Skill Center and earned 6 college credits.  This year, Gary is in his 2nd year of the Criminal Justice program and will earn 6 more college credits.  A major portion of Gary's 2nd year in the Criminal Justice program involves doing a series of internships with various law enforcement agencies in the area.  These internships come in 9-week blocks & were setup thru the Bay-Arenac Skill Center.  For example, right now, Gary is doing ride-alongs with the Midland City Police Dept. in 12 hour shifts.  Sometimes, he comes back from these ride-alongs with some hair-raising tales!  His next assignment will be with the Michigan State Police Crime Scene Investigation Unit.  Because of his class schedule and the 12 hour shift time commitment, this internship keeps Gary pretty busy on weekends.  Finally, because Gary had already accumulated nearly all the credit hours required for graduation and scored very high on his MEAP tests in the 9th, 10th, & 11th grades, he is also taking 6 credit hours/semester at Delta College in classes which will count towards his Criminal Justice major.  The only stipulation on the nature of these college classes was they had to be in subjects not offered at Meridian High School.  The only class Gary actually takes at Meridian High School is a college prep English class.  The Meridian School District is paying the tuition & other fees for all this!  Naturally, with Gary's wild class schedule, he has to provide his own transportation.  He's putting a lot of miles on his car this year & we're helping him with those expenses.  By the time Gary graduates from high school next spring, he will have accumulated 24 college credits towards his BS degree in Criminal Justice.  It's been like a defacto scholarship from the Meridian School District & he'll still get the $3000 MEAP money after graduation!

How about that for creative use of tax dollars?  When it comes to head count, I'm not certain who gets to count Gary - Meridian High School, the Bay-Arenac Skill Center, Delta College?  Frankly, I don't care.  I realise Gary's situation is pretty unusual.  There are probably very few students with sufficient skills, maturity, & ambition to be able to handle a program like Gary's.  But, it does illustrate the sort of things that are possible within the public school systems if administrators are allowed to be creative.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium