School Reformers Building their own Reform School Brick by Brick

It is easy to get comfy in Bloomfield.

Much of what is painful for the rest of the world is mitigated by the area's affluence and long traditions of maintaining a functioning and attractive community.

That is a big part of why folks move here.

There are exceptions, of course. The burst of the housing bubble was an eye opener -- to say the least. As real estate prices head back up, bolstered again by "schools," it is worth getting ready for shock waves of another sort, courtesy of Governor Snyder and state school reform advocates Chuck Moss and Tom McMillen (both filed to run to replace John Pappageorge as your Senator in 2014).

Nation wide school reform efforts funded by ALEC, Bill Gates, the Broad Foundation, etc. will be another.  In 2011 Governor Snyder initiated his "Anywhere, Anytime, Anyplace" school reform plans, plans that drew heavily
on market driven, high stakes testing schemes embraced by "Studentfirster" Michelle Rhee and Jeb Bush.

The Governor has been relentlessly positive in pursuing these reforms even through what has been a tough summer for school reform folks -- so much so that we might have to abandon the term "school reform" entirely and just say reform school.

In Atlanta, Superintendent Beverly Hall was indicted along with 35 others for cheating on test scores, artificially raising scores to win funds. Indiana's Superintendent, Tony Bennett, stayed in the Hoosier state to change the "grade" of schools so that a rich donor's preferred school would look good.http://www.indystar.com/article/20130817/OPINION10/308170003/Tony-Bennett-s-grading-system-isn-t-fai... That prompted him last week to resign from his post in Florida (Jeb's state, of course, where he had moved to be in a comfort zone). Thousands called for the resignation of John King in New York last week when he predicted the results of the state's first Common Core tests that declared 70% of the student population imbeciles.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/12/how-come-officials-could-predict-resu... He was all set to produce a "miracle" in the following the year. The Detroit EAA's own John Covington, of course, abruptly resigned from Kansas City Schools in 2011 to take his $325,000 a year post here. KC schools lost their accreditation after his fine work.

Covington is critical to BHSD folks because the EAA was supposed to be able to absorb all the state's "failing" schools, including Pontiac. You see, had the EAA grown quickly enough they could have taken over Pontiac and saved the Governor political hassle from Oakland County. But the EAA enrollments are bleak and falling despite a massive infusion of funds from the Broad Foundation. The EAA seems hardly ready to take over Pontiac schools but no one knows for sure as FOIAs come back, well, rather slowly and messily. Mr. Covington who only graduated from the Broad Superintendent School in 2008 before leaping to his gargantuan salary might be looking for greener pastures.

But where? In Philadelphia, school of choice and funding issues have drained the public schools so that they almost weren't able to open. Philadelphia -- where those funky founding fathers called for a citizen governed democracy and led such whacky liberals as Thomas Jefferson to see the need for public education for all.

Yesterday, the Oakland Press ran a nice story where they allowed Vicki Markavitch to compare Pontiac to Philadelphia. http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/08/18/news/local_news/doc521149d653d8c299631517.txtThe remarks are illuminating for those that like to think strictly in "us" or "them" terms -- "we" manage our money, "they" don't, therefore they deserve to close. Markavitch's commentary nicely links what is happening to our neighbors and our District to the rest of the nation. This discussion is uncommon here as most media reports prefer the "good" community "bad" community narrative, reporting as if they are Santa Flanagan making a list and checking it (maybe) twice.

As many reformers as there are that end up in reform school, however, there are as many to replace them. The prognosis is not good for parents who like BHSD as it, more or less, is.

Superintendent Mike Flanagan -- whose District Dissolution plan seamlessly took the place of the Governor's Any Where, Any Time, Any Place mantra -- is indicating the EAA (despite the poor presumptive signs) is ready to take on some 12 schools.

Any from Pontiac? It is a secret, these new EAA schools. And this emergency take over can wait a year til 2014. Are we negotiating with Oakland County pols here? Stop blocking us and the EAA will take Pontiac once we can get them some more cash.

Reform School indeed.

I can't wait to see which schools Mr. Flanagan and troubled State Treasurer Andy Dillon think need reforming by dissolution next.http://www.freep.com/article/20130816/NEWS06/308160137/Dillon-alleged-assault