Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Michigan imposes power over struggling schools; South Dakota has 24 tiny schools remaining

The Michigan Legislature voted to give state-appointed emergency managers unprecedented control over local governments and school districts, and those managers may be poised to take over several rural districts. Republicans in the legislature voted for the expanded powers but "so far the new powers have been used only in heavily Democratic cities," Eartha Jane Melzer of The Michigan Messenger reports. Now "rural Republican lawmakers who don’t represent cities or schools under takeover threat — yet — are starting to raise questions as to how far Lansing should go," Melzer reports. (Read more)

Meanwhile in South Dakota, there were 24 one- or two-teacher schools in the state during the 2009-2010 school year, Jennifer Jungwirth of The Daily Republic in Mitchell reports. "The country schools served a real need years ago. They were vital with a larger agriculture population," Melody Schopp, South Dakota secretary of education told Jungwirth. "As the population declined in rural areas, it became a financial issue." (Read more)

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