Another Common Sense Conservative Approach.

M live link to school bill.
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http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2008/06/state_senate_stops_short_of_ho.html
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I like the way this bill is working out. A good short study of the direction in which I would like to see the Republicans headed.

I called up Jeff at Senator Van Workom’s office, and he filled me in on the particulars of the bill. I had to rewrite my post as I assumed way too much. I’m glad I called, as the Mlive account was sketchy at best and perhaps misleading.

The original bill was to give a solution to help fix the poor reading level of some elementary students, by using a consistent metric to judge performance. The metric was in place already. The bill (S 842) by DeKuypers, proposed a solution which was to hold 3rd graders who lacked proficiency back so they could learn. Before advancing them. This was not a good solution. We have to know what the problem is in order to fix it. But the solution wasn’t workable as it has repeatedly been shown that holding a child back does a lot more harm than good. The bill was in need of a better solution. The children were in need of a solution. The bill through the efforts of several people including Senator Van Workhom helped come up with a better solution through working with the Education people. The new bill calls for using funds to set up a model program that involves the educating of teachers and principles ect to locate the students that need help. To set up a system that during the school year that measures the progress of those students and lastly for those students still not keeping up to set up summer school classes to help solve that problem directly.

Jeff also pointed out a companion piece of legislation in the Senate. (S 1275). Whereas the previous bill required a model to be made, (S 1275) requires that the local schools use the model or other ideas to solve that problem. Flexibility at the local level is what the bill is after. Solution is # 1 but flexibility is recognized as a necessary component to be successful. This is a more bottom up approach. This is my idea of the new modern Conservative model. Offering direct remedies to our problems. Let the Conservatives be the facilitators of making the bureaucracy work better. Not just feed the bureaucracy but make it work more efficiently through metrics and solutions coming out of the use of that metric. Basing that solution on the outcome of actual students, not the effect it has on the bureaucracy. Judging the results on the actual students. Common sense, outside of Washington, or in this case Lansing, is what is badly needed.

The plan is sound, as far as it went. There was an obvious problem with the solution. It was corrected. Not by scrapping the plan, but by accounting for and taking care of the results. The bureaucracy was used for input to help solve the problem. This is an attempt to come up with a true bi-partisan solution. The opposition claimed the results were unfair we agreed, we corrected it. Now the ball is in their court to vote against it, as they probably will. But the coverage of the bill, it’s short comings, the complaints from the Dems which has been corrected, and the subsequent vote will all have a cumulative effect in the minds of the voters. This kind of common sense approach to problem solving if constantly and frequently applied as in the US House through the recent and upcoming “Discharge Petitions” will have an effect.

For now we’ll hope for the best on this bill which is an example of a good people orientated Conservative common sense solution.

For further research please see my side bar on the right, scroll down to “Research Links” click on “Michigan House & Senate Bill Look Up” Then type in each senate bill (S 842 and or S 1275). A word of caution. When typing in the bill number just type the number not the S.

The real meat and the nuts and bolts of the program is in bill S 1275. Another word, the new parts are highlighted or are in bold face. Read those and you will get a feel for what this bill is trying to do. The new Republican approach, if you will. Trying to allow parents and individual teachers, then the schools themselves to determine the best course for the students in need. Again a bottom up approach, vs. the one size fits all from the top down approach. The model is top down (S842), but the bottom gets to choose whether to use it or part of it or not at all (S1275). The top in this bill is just trying to help come up with a solution. Trying to facilitate a solution. This gets a “bottom up award” from me. After studying this let your state legislators know what you think.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative