Search for your lawmakers and contact them on important bills pending before the legislature.

Welcome to MAPSA’s Legislative Action Center! 

For years, the opposition has discredited charter public schools.  It is up to you to set the record straight.  Please take a few moments to use your voice and tell your elected officials why they should support charter public schools and why quality educational choices are so important to students.

CURRENT ACTION ALERT

December, 2011 - Charter cap update!

Senate bill 618, the bill that amends the Michigan Charter School Act, passed the Michigan legislature this week and is expected to be signed by the Governor in the next few weeks.  Thank you to everyone who helped by calling, e-mailing, and even testifying in support of this monumental piece of legislation.  

Specifically, SB 618:

• Gives charter schools that currently are required to pay property tax in Michigan an exemption from school property taxes (24 mills), but will still be required to pay the remaining local property taxes;
• Allows schools to give priority enrollment to the children of employees who work AT the charter school;
• Phases out the charter school cap over the next three years, going to 300 as soon as the law takes effect, 500 at the end of 2012, and eliminated at the end of 2014;
• Removes the single site requirement for schools that are in compliance with the contract and making measurable progress toward meetings its educational goals in the contract;
• Creates a bipartisan workgroup composed of members from the House and Senate to be selected by the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. This workgroup is required to make recommendations to the House and Senate Education Committees on measures to improve educational quality in all public schools for all pupils with a focus on student growth by March 30, 2012.
• Authorizers will be required to consider the graduation rate of a school district where a proposed PSA will be located, the population of the county in which it is proposed to be located, the number of schools in proximity of the proposed location that are on the lowest achieving 5% list, and the number of pupils on waiting lists of Public School Academies in proximity of the proposed location prior to approving a contract. 
• All public schools will be required to post their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status and accreditation status on their website.

Click here to view the text of the bill

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Alicia Urbain, Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs, at 517-999-4416 or AUrbain@charterschools.org.

August, 2011 - At this time we are hoping that you have a moment, because we need your help!

As we speak, stories are being printed in the news media and told to your legislator propelling myths that charter public schools do not offer success, do not serve their students and families with excellence, and do not successfully prepare students to compete academically. One critic recently stated in a quote in the Detroit News, “charters are second rate schools with second rate teachers.”

It’s hard to believe, but there are those who are still working to prohibit a parent’s option to choose what is best for their child. Some legislators, and decision makers, still do not support the idea that parents know what is best for their children, and therefore, feel they do not deserve the right to decide to send their child to a charter public school. 

Please speak up and set the record straight. Write a letter to your legislator, voicing the need to protect and expand charter public school options in Michigan.  Educate them on the facts -charter public schools are succeeding.
Please include one or more of the following points in your message:

-Charter public school students score higher in nearly every category in every grade on the MEAP test compared to similar traditional districts.
-Charter public schools in Detroit and Flint, scored about 10% higher on the MEAP than traditional districts in those cities, while charter public schools in Grand Rapids scored about 15% higher than traditional public schools.
-Charter teachers are highly qualified professionals held to the same standards as those in traditional districts, often times putting in more hours.
-Charter public schools offer parents a choice to decide what’s best for their child.

Click here to go to the link and take action.

February, 2011 - Ensure parents everywhere have a high-quality public education option

Recently, in a truly sensational story, an Ohio mother and aspiring teacher was arrested for enrolling her children in a public school outside of the local school district they were zoned to attend. She did this in order to give her children a better education. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools believes parents should not have to break the law in order to give their children access to a safe, public school.  Public charter schools can change the system by giving all parents access to a safe, high-quality public school for their children.  

Watch the video and take action!  Click here to view the ABC News coverage of this mother’s case, and take action today to let your elected officials know they must ensure that ALL children have the option of a high-quality public education.

In the next months, the newly seated 112th Congress will work to reauthorize the main federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as the No Child Left Behind Act).  The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is working to ensure this bill affords parents high-quality public school options, and we need your help!   

Throughout the reauthorization process we will have more action alerts, and we greatly appreciate your taking the time to read and react to each of them. It is only because of your support that public charter schools are able to accomplish as much as they are! Today, please lend your online voice to ensure parents everywhere have high-quality public education options. 

RECENT ACTION ALERTS

Jun 30, 2010      US House Proposes $100M Cut in Charter School Funding

Dec 3, 2009       Charter expansion bill in House Education Committee! 

Nov 2, 2009        Help Michigan earn "Race to the Top" funds

Sept 30, 2009      Urge legislature to pass school aid budget

Nov 3, 2009         Speak up for educational opportunities

Feb 2, 2009         Federal Stimulus Vote THIS WEEK - Speak up for Charters!!

Dec 17, 2008        Stop Property Tax Increase & Unequal School Funding Bill

Jun 05, 2008        Law will change charter school boards

May 13, 2008       Horizons to lose their charter

Mar 06, 2008       Canton Academy to expand?

If you’d prefer to contact your elected officials by phone, please call 1-888-605-8092 and leave a voicemail message that will be delivered directly to your State Senator and/or your State Representative.