The School-to-Prison Pipeline

From Teaching Tolerance Magazine Number 43: Spring 2013

Illustration by Chris Buzelli

In Meridian, Miss., police routinely arrest and transport youths to a juvenile detention center for minor classroom misbehaviors. In Jefferson Parish, La., according to a U.S. Department of Justice complaint, school officials have given armed police “unfettered authority to stop, frisk, detain, question, search and arrest schoolchildren on and off school grounds.” In Birmingham, Ala., police officers are permanently stationed in nearly every high school.
In fact, hundreds of school districts across the country employ discipline policies that push students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system at alarming rates—a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline.
Last month, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., held the first federal hearing on the school-to-prison pipeline—an important step toward ending policies that favor incarceration over education and disproportionately push minority students and students with disabilities out of schools and into jails.
In opening the hearing, Durbin told the subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “For many young people, our schools are increasingly a gateway to the criminal justice system. This phenomenon is a consequence of a culture of zero tolerance that is widespread in our schools and is depriving many children of their fundamental right to an education.”
A wide array of organizations—including the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP and Dignity in Schools—offered testimony during the hearing. They joined representatives from the Departments of Education and Justice to shine a national spotlight on a situation viewed far too often as a local responsibility.
“We have a national problem that deserves federal action,” Matthew Cregor, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, explained. “With suspension a top predictor of dropout, we must confront this practice if we are ever to end the ‘dropout crisis’ or the so-called achievement gap.” In the words of Vermont’s Sen. Patrick Leahy, “As a nation, we can do better.”
What is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?
Policies that encourage police presence at schools, harsh tactics including physical restraint, and automatic punishments that result in suspensions and out-of-class time are huge contributors to the pipeline, but the problem is more complex than that.
The school-to-prison pipeline starts (or is best avoided) in the classroom. When combined with zero-tolerance policies, a teacher’s decision to refer students for punishment can mean they are pushed out of the classroom—and much more likely to be introduced into the criminal justice system.
Who’s in the Pipeline?
Students from two groups—racial minorities and children with disabilities—are disproportionately represented in the school-to-prison pipeline. African-American students, for instance, are 3.5 times more likely than their white classmates to be suspended or expelled, according to a nationwide study by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. Black children constitute 18 percent of students, but they account 46 percent of those suspended more than once.
For students with disabilities, the numbers are equally troubling. One report found that while 8.6 percent of public school children have been identified as having disabilities that affect their ability to learn, these students make up 32 percent of youth in juvenile detention centers.
The racial disparities are even starker for students with disabilities. About 1 in 4 black children with disabilities were suspended at least once, versus 1 in 11 white students, according to an analysis of the government report by Daniel J. Losen, director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.
A landmark study published last year tracked nearly 1 million Texas students for at least six years. The study controlled for more than 80 variables, such as socioeconomic class, to see how they affected the likelihood of school discipline. The study found that African Americans were disproportionately punished compared with otherwise similar white and Latino students. Children with emotional disabilities also were disproportionately suspended and expelled.
In other studies, Losen found racial differences in suspension rates have widened since the early 1970s and that suspension is being used more frequently as a disciplinary tool. But he said his recent study and other research show that removing children from school does not improve their behavior. Instead, it greatly increases the likelihood that they’ll drop out and wind up behind bars.
Punishing Policies
The SPLC advocates for changes to end the school-to-prison pipeline and has filed lawsuits or civil rights complaints against districts with punitive discipline practices that are discriminatory in impact.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of school resource officers rose 38 percent between 1997 and 2007. Jerri Katzerman, SPLC deputy legal director, said this surge in police on campus has helped to criminalize many students and fill the pipeline.
One 2005 study found that children are far more likely to be arrested at school than they were a generation ago. The vast majority of these arrests are for nonviolent offenses. In most cases, the students are simply being disruptive. And a recent U.S. Department of Education study found that more than 70 percent of students arrested in school-related incidents or referred to law enforcement are black or Hispanic. Zero-tolerance policies, which set one-size-fits-all punishments for a variety of behaviors, have fed these trends.
Best Practices
Instead of pushing children out, Katzerman said, “Teachers need a lot more support and training for effective discipline, and schools need to use best practices for behavior modification to keep these kids in school where they belong.”
Keeping at-risk kids in class can be a tough order for educators under pressure to meet accountability measures, but classroom teachers are in a unique position to divert students from the school-to-prison pipeline.
Teachers know their students better than any resource officer or administrator—which puts them in a singularly empowered position to keep students in the classroom. It’s not easy, but when teachers take a more responsive and less punitive approach in the classroom, students are more likely to complete their education.
The information in "A Teacher's Guide to Rerouting the Pipeline" highlights common scenarios that push young people into the school-to-prison pipeline and offers practical advice for how teachers can dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.
>> Avoiding the Pipeline
How can school districts divert the school-to-prison pipeline?
1. Increase the use of positive behavior interventions and supports.
2. Compile annual reports on the total number of disciplinary actions that push students out of the classroom based on gender, race and ability.
3. Create agreements with police departments and court systems to limit arrests at school and the use of restraints, such as mace and handcuffs.
4. Provide simple explanations of infractions and prescribed responses in the student code of conduct to ensure fairness.
5. Create appropriate limits on the use of law enforcement in public schools.
6. Train teachers on the use of positive behavior supports for at-risk students.
>> Toolkit: Want to deepen your understanding of the school-to-prison pipeline?
>> Check out our infographic
>> Read the PDF version of this article

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Doug Fister and Austin Jackson serve up lunch at Red Robins restaurant in Madison Heights

The Detroit Tigers Austin Jackson and Doug Fister were serving up lunch to fans. 

I get silly with Fister at Red Robin restaurant in Madison Heights. 
Video story at the Oakland Press and on You Tube.
http://youtu.be/huio0NRjXLA

Oakland County school staff learns how to protect themselves, students in active shooter training

Oakland County school staff learns how to protect themselves, students in active shooter training WITH VIDEO

Published: Friday, January 25, 2013

Oakland County Sheriff's Office Major Robert Smith, left, and Oakland County Homeland Security Division Manager Ted Quisenberry talk to the media before the first Active Shooter Training Sessions for School Personnel at the Executive Office Building in Waterford Township. Thursday, January 24, 2013. The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON

A large crowd for the first Active Shooter Training Sessions for School Personnel at the Executive Office Building in Waterford Township. Thursday, January 24, 2013. The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON

By JOHN TURK
Of The Oakland Press
john.turk@oakpress.com; Twitter: @jrturk

Click to enlarge

Dave Lessel, assistant principal at Waterford Mott high school, talk to the media before the first Active Shooter Training Sessions for School Personnel at the Executive Office Building in Waterford Township. Thursday, January 24, 2013. The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON

What do you do if an active shooter is at your school? That's the question many county and school officials are trying to answer in Waterford Township.

About 85 Oakland County school officials and teachers were in attendance Thursday for an active shooter training.

Theodore H. Quisenberry, manager of the Oakland County Homeland Security Division, said the day's training session is meant to “prevent it or protect people before it happens,” and allow individuals to learn “how they can walk out and survive it.”

The result is a collaboration among Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Oakland Schools Superintendent Dr. Vickie Markavitch.

“In the days following the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting, Homeland Security Division Manager Ted Quisenberry contacted Oakland Schools about collaborating on large-scale active shooter training sessions for school personnel,” according to a county media release.

“This is something we’ve been doing for several years as far as increasing awareness,” said Quisenberry. “There are several things that people can do if they’re in a situation, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Topics covered at the training were active shooter profiles, past tragedies and decisions teachers — and others — might have to make in an active shooter situation.

Speaking to the large group at the county’s Executive Building, Mike Loeper — a Homeland Security representative and first trainer during the session — said the tragic Columbine shootings carried out by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold really painted a picture of active shooter situations.

Columbine “changed the way law enforcement responds” to active shooters, he said.

Audio recordings could be heard of a Colorado teacher calling law enforcement during the 1999 massacre.  

“That four-minute emergency call” was exactly the right thing to do, added the instructor.

A big factor in these scenarios is getting out of the way of law enforcement and letting them take the lead, officials said.

It’s a very situational training, said Quisenberry.

"If something were to happen what would I do, where would I go,” he said, detailing certain thoughts that should be going through peoples’ heads. Or, he said, “If my normal exit is over here and that’s the way that trouble is coming from, where could you go as a second — or a third — way to get out of there.”



Thursday’s training was the first of several training sessions. More were added due to high demand of them, said county spokesman Bill Mullan.

The next session is slated to begin at 9 a.m. Feb. 11, with another scheduled on Feb. 15 at the county's Oakland Schools building.

Dave Lessel, assistant principal of Waterford Mott High School, said he will be passing along what he learned to his staff.

“Pleased at our school and our district that we have a plan that’s set down ... so (teachers) are going to know what to do,” he said. “This is important information, it’s relevant. We’re entrusted with the safety of our kids, and we take this seriously.”

Rochester Eighth Grader with Downs Makes Sportcenter

     Any old eighth grader making a basket would not end up on any newscast let alone ESPN's Sport Center. But when you happen to have Downs Syndrome and make two triples in a game and have a play drawn up for you, it becomes must see tv. Owen Groesser of Van Hoosen Middle School is getting his 15 minutes of fame and is soaking up the attention while it lasts.

 

Rochester Hills eighth-grader with Down syndrome shoots two three-pointers in basketball game WITH VIDEO

Published: Friday, January 25, 2013

Photo credit WXYZ

By MEGAN SEMERAZ
Of The Oakland Press
Megan.Semeraz@oakpress.com; Twitter: @MeganSemeraz

 

Owen Groesser, an 8th grader at Van Hoosen Middle School, made two 3-point shots in a basketball game recently, pictured Thursday January 24, 2013. (Oakland Press Photo:Vaughn Gurganian)

Rochester Hills eighth-grader Owen Groesser always knew he had what it takes to be a superstar — and that’s what he has become.

Owen, who has Down’s Syndrome, became famous overnight after making two three-point shots in the final basketball game for his middle school basketball team, the Van Hoosen Vikings.

In less than 24 hours, the story has gained attention from everyone including local media, ESPN and Good Morning America.

His parents, Kari and Chris, never expected the sudden fame, but neither of them were surprised that 13-year-old Owen made the shots.

“We did not expect this, a very nice surprise, but we had no expectations,” Kari said.

“We weren’t surprised he made the shots, we’re just grateful he had the opportunity to do it,” Chris said.

Owen knew he had it in him.

“Being famous is good, and I know that I am cool,” Owen said. “I am excited, I am. And today (Thursday), this is the last game and it’s really, really fun. My team is good.”

This was the first time Owen had played this season, but he has an active role as the team’s manager.

His mom said: “Because of basketball at Van Hoosen, it’s a cut-sport — so there’s 15 spots. During curriculum night, I had gone over to coach (Jeff) Howell and I said ‘It’s a cut-sport, but is there any way Owen could be the manager?’ And he was great and he said ‘Do you know how many kids are asking to be my manager? For Owen, it’s his.’ ”  
 

Owen practices with the team and is fully dedicated to it. He has never missed a single practice.

“Last week, when I picked him up from practice, the two of them (Owen and Howell) were walking toward the car with a grin on their face like the cat that swallowed the canary and I’m thinking ‘Oh no, what happened’ and (Howell) goes ‘Hey, we’re going to suit him up next week,’ ” Kari said.

Basketball is something Owen has always loved. His favorite teams are the Pistons and Miami Heat. He also loves Michigan State University basketball.

The idea of playing the game was “the thrill of (Owen’s) life,” Kari said. The team even came up with a play they called “The Owen,” which they practiced for a week

“(The shots were) the last two minutes before halftime, and there they were — they did ‘The Owen,’ ” Kari said.

Owen’s three sisters Madi, 15, Lily, 12, and Ella, 9, have also expressed how excited they are for their brother. They all had their roles in creating attention surrounding the two shots.

During the game, Lily shot the video that went viral across the Internet. The video would end up airing nationally on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Chris also put up a video on YouTube called “Owen’s Big Game,” featuring the shots.

“A lot of people were videotaping it, I guess,” Lily said. “I’m kind of happy I got it. I wasn’t trying to get it all over, but I guess it did (go viral).”

Following the game, Madi helped start the hashtag #GetOwenOnSportsCenter on Twitter.

“I was sitting at home doing homework and my phone started going off,” Madi said. “And I was like ‘What?” and I looked on Twitter and some eight-graders were like ‘Get Owen On SportsCenter’ and then I joined in. Then we got everyone joining in and then it got trending — it was cool.”  

The word spread quickly, making its way to college and professional athletes on Twitter.

“A cool piece of the story is that they have a second, or third cousin at Ferris (State University) that saw it and she put out the tweet and it somehow ended up with RG3 (Robert Griffin III), quarterback for the Redskins and then he responded and then it really took off,” Chris said.

The family did not know how far Owen’s story really went until Thursday morning.

“We were actually out at a surprise party, that was (Wednesday) night,” Kari said. We literally came home from the game, dropped the kids off and left — so we had no idea any of this was going on. Madi called Chris and said ‘Dad, this is going crazy and there’s talk of Owen being on SportsCenter.’ ”

When the couple returned home, they began receiving text messages late Wednesday evening that Owen would be on the local news.

That’s when Kari and Chris found out Owen was on SportsCenter, and he was No. 10 on the show’s Top Plays list. Being late, Owen was already asleep, so they opted to show him in the morning.

“They had Lily’s video from the shots, from her iPod, and they were just playing it,” Kari said. “At the end, the one gentleman, you could hear him say ‘this needs to be number one.’ ”

The next morning when they woke up, SportsCenter had Owen as No. 1. Since being No. 1 on SportsCenter, he has done a live interview with ESPN and has been featured in the national media.

Owen said everyone at school is telling him what a good job he has done, giving him high-fives and everyone knows who he is, which makes him feel good.

Owen’s advice for success is “never give up and keep going forward.” And that’s what he said he will continue to do.

Contact Megan Semeraz at 248-745-4628 or email Megan.Semeraz@oakpress.com or follow her on Twitter @MeganSemeraz

Tigers and FBI Combine to stomp out bullying at Royal Oak Middle

Tigers and FBI combine to stomp out bullying at Royal Oak Middle
Video Story is located here. http://youtu.be/oX1CL4iFHBY

I was at Royal Oak Middle and granted an interview with Prince Fielder and Phil Coke as they talked about bullying as they grew up. For Phil Coke, it was extremely painful. My video story and interview links will be available over the weekend.

‘Strike Out Bullying’ event held at Royal Oak Middle School

By Tom Watts  and Roy J. Akers Prince Fielder, left, and Phil Coke of the Detroit Tigers joined Royal Oak Middle School students for the district’s first ever “Strike Out Bullying” event on Thursday.

ROYAL OAK — Phil Coke was just a little guy when he remembers getting a “pink belly,” but Prince Fielder was a big guy and he got bullied by the little kids.

“People tend to notice if you’re easy going — people have to pick on you,” Fielder told students at Royal Oak Middle School for the school district’s first ever “Strike Out Bullying” event on Thursday.

“It’s a tough thing to go through,” Fielder said as the crowd in the jam-packed school auditorium listened to its baseball heroes talk about when they were bullied.

“I was one of the little athletic kids,” Coke told the audience made up of students, teachers, parents and out-of-district students who won essay contests to be part of the event. “It was always words. Kids can be so cruel. It can be as bad as being punched in the face.”

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Coke said the “pink belly” he received came from kids holding his arms and legs while other kids “slap your belly as hard as you can.”

“Let someone know,” Coke said. “They (bullies) like to pick on the big guy or the little guy.”

Fielder and Coke were joined on stage by Mario Impemba, the Fox Sports Detroit television broadcaster for the Tigers.

“Today these kids have their heroes telling them not to be a bystander when someone is getting bullied,” he said.

The former Sterling Heights Stevenson graduate said he was routinely bullied. “For me in high school it was mostly words,” Impemba said. “I decided to disarm them and just laugh at what they said.”

Zoe Marcus, principal at Royal Oak Middle School, said Thursday’s anti-bullying events reinforced what teachers in the Royal Oak Schools are preparing their students for.

“For the Royal Oak community, we have a huge focus on bullying in our schools,” she said. “We kick off an anti-bullying program called Olweus on Feb. 15.”

Royal Oak Middle School science teacher Debbie Taylor brought her 9-year-old son, Brennan, to the event. “There is a bullying presentation program we are going to be implementing called Olweus, which is named after a Swedish gentleman that helps kids become aware of bullying in their schools. I wanted to see today’s program and wanted to bring my son.”

The Tigers and school officials from Royal Oak, including Superintendent Lewis Lakin, were graced by the presence and presentation from U.S. Attorney General Barbara McQuade.

“I am also a mom,” McQuade told the overflow audience, then asked the crowd questions.

“Bullying is when someone is mean to you,” one young boy answered as McQuade had the crowd screaming in unison to stop bullying.

“You might be a bystander,” she said, “but if a bystander steps in then it helps.”

Robert Foley, a special agent for the FBI Detroit office, spoke briefly before the Tigers arrived to tell their stories.

“This is about taking the positive steps to create a positive environment,” Foley said. “Create a culture of support.”

The support was none more evident than with the children and students in the audience.

Hannah Hutton, 10, of Wilde Elementary School in Warren, and Isabella Johnson, 11, of Hunter Elementary School in Trenton, were both able to sit on stage with the players after they won essay contests at their schools.

“I wrote about a girl getting bullied: They told her she was pretty and they pranked her,” Hutton said. “She is truly an inspiration to me.”

Still, the inspiration on Thursday was Fielder and Coke telling their stories of being bullied and how to combat it.

“You and your friends can tell the bully to stop, but if that doesn’t work, tell an adult,” Fielder said. “If you don’t speak up, the bullying will go on.”

According to statistics, bullying can take place at school, on the playground or in your neighborhood.

Guest speakers also warned students that bullying is now taking the form of taunting and verbal abuse through electronic devices and the Internet.

Cellphones, smart phones, laptops and home computers have given kids ways to communicate that their parents could only have dreamed of. And increasingly, text messages, blogs and social websites such as Facebook are being used to embarrass, taunt, threaten or harass other students.

According to the Strike Out Bullying website, the problem has grown to the point that the nation’s Centers for Disease Control, which monitors health and social problems, released a package of materials to help students, parents and schools push back against what it calls “electronic aggression.”

As many as one in three adolescents may now be victims of electronic aggression each year, according to studies by the CDC and the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Electronic aggression is a bigger problem than what used to be called “cyber bullying” on the Internet, because it’s more than an Internet issue.

“If you see someone getting bullied, you know it’s not right,” Fielder said. “Help them out; tell someone; tell a teacher. Tell the bully what he’s doing is not nice.”

Some college girls are becoming sugar babies to pay for college

One morning this past week I was waiting with my daughter for her bus to come and she asked to listen to 95.5 FM. On the line was a 'sugar baby' who provided companionship services for a sugar daddy for $3,000 per month. Her relationship with this married man carried on for four years and her family was none the wiser. Depending on your moral point of view this is either sickening or acceptable and in two stories below plus a video, this growing practice is all the rage with college coeds.

It is really tough to get your arms around this story and I mean that literally. Your daughter has the talent and brains to go to college. Student loans are drowning your family in debt. What does a girl do?

Economy May Be Fueling ‘Sugar Daddy’ Business, Site Suggests

The top colleges are listed below. An Atlanta news story goes to the number one college located right in their city. 

 

SeekingArrangement.com

As college costs continue their stubborn rise, and with work harder to come by during an anemic economic recovery, some students are resorting to a rather unusual measure in order to pay their college bills.
“Sugar Daddies,” wealthy older men who provide financial support to younger women in exchange for sex and companionship, have seen a rise in popularity among college students struggling to find a way to pay tuition.
College student membership on SeekingArrangement.com, a website that matches sugar daddies and sugar babies, has increased by 58 percent from December 2011 to December 2012.
“Currently, we have over 2 million members, 44 percent of which are college students,” Leroy Velasquez, public relations manager at SeekingArrangement.com, told ABC News.  ”It’s very difficult to retain a part time or full-time job, especially when you have an academic life. With SeekingArrangement, we offer these types of relationships.”
Asked if he thought the anemic economy was contributing the rise in sugar daddy arrangements, Velasquez said, ”I think it’s directly correlated. … We are in a very recessive economy, tuition costs and costs of living have increased and people are finding alternative ways of funding a college education, in this case becoming a sugar baby.”
Deeply indebted, facing a lackluster economy, and with jobs scarce,  college students and recent graduates are entering into what could be called borderline prostitution to foot their bills.
“In 2011, we saw an explosion in the number of college students seeking sugar daddies to help pay their college tuition”, said SeekingArrangement.com founder Brandon Wade in a news release. ” One in every two sugar babies who joins our website today are college students.”
SeekingArrangement.com released a list of the top 20 fastest growing “Sugar Baby” schools: Georgia State, NYU and Temple University topped the list.
According to SeekingArrangement.com, the average co-ed “sugar baby receives approximately $3,000 a month in allowances and gifts from her sugar daddy, enough to cover tuition and living expenses at most schools.
Sugar daddy dating advocates push back forcefully against suggestions their activities amount to little more than an elaborate escort service.
“If the sugar daddy is, in fact, meeting a girl simply for sex in exchange for money, then they are using the website in violation of our terms of agreement,” SeekingArrangement.com founder and CEO Brandon Wade told ABC News’ “Nightline.”
“It’s really about a romantic relationship between two people,” he said. “The only difference is that the sugar daddy is very wealthy.”
So how does it work?
“Basically, a sugar daddy will message a sugar baby he is interested in and he will mention what he is looking for,” Velasquez told ABC News.  ”In her profile, she will ask for what she wants in terms of a monthly allowance. After a certain point, they exchange emails and phone numbers and have a dinner date.”
The two will then enter into a contract, the terms of which are decided by the parties involved, Velasquez said.
Velasquez rejected the idea that Seekingarrangement.com is, at its core, an escort service. The key difference between prostitution and a mutually beneficial relationship is the word “relationship,” he added.
“A prostitute is just conducting a black-and-white transaction that is in no way a relationship,” said Velasquez. “What we have at Seeking Arrangement is a lifestyle.”
“I do see it as a very common trend,” Velasquez said. “Since the beginning of time, it has existed. Back then you had geishas and courtesans. Today, we have sugar babies. They are exchanging their beauty for a man’s generosity.”

 
The following is the list of the Top 20 Fastest Growing Sugar Baby Schools, by new sign ups in 2012:
1. Georgia State University 292
2. New York University 285
3. Temple University 268
4. University of Central Florida 221
5. University of South Florida 212
6. Arizona State University 204
7. Florida International University 187
8. University of Georgia 148
9. Indiana University 131
10. Texas State 128
11. Kent State University 123
12. Penn State 121
13. University of North Texas 112
14. Florida State University 111
15.Tulane University 109
16. Michigan State University 108
17. Ohio University 103
18. Columbia University 100
19. University of Alabama 96
20. University of California Los Angeles 91

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Two Georgia colleges ranked pretty high on the national dating website Seekingarrangement.com.

More singles seeking ’50 Shades of Grey’ relationships

Ever since the racy 50 Shades of Grey book trilogy has made bestseller lists, a sugar daddy-dating website claims the books have caused a spike in its membership.
The site, SeekingArrangement.com, is meant to hook up older rich men with younger girls, many of them college students. In fact, Georgia State University has one of highest number of students with profiles on the site across the nation.

Georgia State ranked as the fastest growing school with girls who signed up in 2012.
Reaction from GSU students was mixed.
"No, no that's not good. That's not why I'm going to college," said junior Sherkerra Smith.
Some may not like that college-aged girls go to a website to meet up with men who help them pay their tuition, but plenty of girls are doing it.
According to the site, close to 300 new Georgia State girls signed up last year, making it the fastest growing "sugar baby" college in the country.
Freshman Derek Bindbeutel told CBS Atlanta News he believes the rising cost of college tuition is what may be driving girls to the site.
"I know it's kind of geared toward a bad purpose. But it is college and you have to do what you have to do to pay for it," said Bindbeutel.
"It's not worth it at all. No, it's not worth it at all," said freshman April Doyal. "I think it's dangerous. I think people can get kidnapped, hurt and killed possibly." 
Don Hale, VP for Public Relations and Marketing Communications, said, "Georgia State prides itself on fostering an enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit among its students. We are surely surprised to see it manifested in this way by these women."
The University of Georgia ranked No. 8 on the list of "sugar baby" colleges.
Pete Konenkamp with the University of Georgia told CBS Atlanta News, "These young women are adults and are free to seek entrepreneurial ship in any way they see best," said Kononkamp.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/20586635/2-georgia-schools-rank-high-for-sugar-baby-colleges

Former Ohio teacher with fear of young kids sues district

Published January 16, 2013

Associated Press

CINCINNATI – A former high school teacher suing the school district where she used to work is accusing its administrators of discriminating against her because of a rare phobia she says she has: a fear of young children.
Maria Waltherr-Willard, 61, had been teaching Spanish and French at Mariemont High School in Cincinnati since 1976.
Waltherr-Willard, who does not have children of her own, said that when she was transferred to the district's middle school in 2009, the seventh- and eighth-graders triggered her phobia, caused her blood pressure to soar and forced her to retire in the middle of the 2010-2011 school year.
In her lawsuit against the district, filed in federal court in Cincinnati, Waltherr-Willard said that her fear of young children falls under the federal American with Disabilities Act and that the district violated it by transferring her in the first place and then refusing to allow her to return to the high school.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Gary Winters, the school district's attorney, said Tuesday that Waltherr-Willard was transferred because the French program at the high school was being turned into an online one and that the middle school needed a Spanish teacher.
"She wants money," Winters said of Walter-Willard's motivation to sue. "Let's keep in mind that our goal here is to provide the best teachers for students and the best academic experience for students, which certainly wasn't accomplished by her walking out on them in the middle of the year."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/16/former-ohio-teacher-with-fear-young-kids-sues-district/#ixzz2IQvvMO2J

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/16/former-ohio-teacher-with-fear-young-kids-sues-district/

Cranbrook gets $150K grant to promote science education

Published: Thursday, January 17, 2013

Click to enlarge

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Transforming science learning and strengthening academic performance among middle school students within Detroit Public Schools is the focus of a partnership launched with the support of a one-year, $150,000 grant from the Bosch Community Fund to the Cranbrook Educational Community.

Cranbrook, Detroit Public Schools and the Bosch Community Fund celebrated this partnership during a check presentation and school visit at Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Cranbrook Institute of Science and Detroit Public Schools will use the grant from the Bosch Community Fund to offer students, families and faculty in-depth, hands-on exposure to science and technology with an emphasis on the mastery of core science concepts and heightened student achievement.

Nearly 160 Detroit Public Schools students and 20 parents visited the Bat Zone and viewed an exhibit showcasing hatching baby salmon at the event on Tuesday.

Maximiliane Straub, chief financial officer and executive vice president of Finance, Controlling and Administration for Robert Bosch LLC and vice president of the Bosch Community Fund; Roy Roberts, Emergency Financial Manager, Detroit Public Schools; and Dr. Michael Stafford, Director, Cranbrook Institute of Science, attended the event.

The collaboration offers nearly 1,000 students in Detroit Public Schools free, private field trips to the nationally regarded Institute of Science located in Bloomfield Hills.

It also will provide professional development opportunities for up to 150 Detroit Public Schools teachers and free Institute memberships and special events to the families of participating students. And, next summer 30 students will have the opportunity to spend a week at a science day camp at the Cranbrook Institute.

“Bosch is proud to work with the Cranbrook Institute of Science and Detroit Public Schools so that students who are enrolled in Detroit Public Schools — and their families and teachers — can foster their love of math, science, engineering and other technical areas at the Cranbrook Institute of Science,” Straub said. “As we continue to grow our business, Bosch seeks to hire associates who excel in these important disciplines. In addition, instilling a strong knowledge base in these areas helps create meaningful jobs that strengthen the U.S. economy.”

“When we announced this partnership in January,” Roberts said, “the enthusiasm districtwide was outstanding due to the impact that such an unprecedented collaboration with the Cranbrook Institute of Science could have on the learning experience of our students, particularly in the globally competitive fields of science and technology. Seeing this vision come to fruition — and now be expanded through grant funding from the Bosch Community Fund — confirms the positive outcome of community organizations forging a partnership to help students excel. Not only are our students, parents and educators being afforded a personalized learning and development experience, they are being exposed to educational growth outside of the classroom, thanks to the critical resources this partnership is providing.”

Experiences for Detroit Public Schools students will focus on direct contact with Institute collections (considered among the country’s finest private collections and boasting more than 150,000 objects and specimens), opportunities for personal contact with Institute scientists and educators, and core science education based on State of Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations. Busing and meals for all participating students are included and a significant series of evaluation tools will be used to measure the impact and outcome of the partnership.

“This dynamic project with Detroit Public Schools continues the Institute’s commitment to serving Detroit’s urban students, their faculty and their families,” said Stafford. “Detroit’s students deserve rich opportunities to explore and become inspired by the increasingly scientific world around them. We are absolutely delighted to have Detroit Public Schools as a meaningful partner. I am especially grateful to the Bosch Community Fund for helping make this collaboration come to life.”

Judge: Kids must wear locator chips at Texas school

By Craig Johnson

updated 12:44 PM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

NEED TO KNOW

• NEW: ACLU says move crosses line from monitoring to outright 'stalking'
• Judge rules San Antonio Northside School District within its rights to mandate RFID badges
• Andrea Hernandez, 15, must wear chip or leave school

A U.S. District judge ruled this week that a Texas school can put locator chips on its students -- and expel those who don’t comply.
In the controversial ruling, District Judge Orlando Garcia said San Antonio Northside School District was within its rights to kick sophomore Andrea Hernandez out of Jay High School. The 15-year-old refused to wear the device, which has become mandatory since last fall for all students while on school property.
HLN wrote about the school district's plans last summer, along with the blogosphere's reaction to it, in which many viewed the new ID badges embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips as an affront to privacy. School officials said the devices would help to keep tabs on troublesome students and help identify which students were cutting class and so on. There is also a financial incentive to use the devices: School revenue is reportedly determined in part by attendance rolls – something the ID badges are designed to track.
A statement forwarded Thursday to HLN from Pascual Gonzalez, the executive director of communications for the school district, said the ruling comes months after the school had done all it could to work with the student.
The ruling “affirms NISD's position that we did make reasonable accommodation to the student by offering to remove the RFID chip from the student's smart ID badge. The student had voiced religious objection to the use of RFID technology.”
“The family now has the choice to accept the accommodation and stay at the magnet program or return to her home campus at the start of the second semester, Jan 22, 2013,” Gonzalez said.
Internet forums and comments on social media sites have called the RFID program part of “the mark of the beast,” a biblical reference. Hernandez has cited her religious beliefs as a reason for her refusal to wear the chip, which is a replacement for the school’s ID badge.
Hernandez said weeks after the RFID program was instituted she faced consequences from the school.
“When I went to cast my vote for homecoming king and queen I had a teacher tell me I would not be allowed to vote because I did not have the proper voter ID,” she told WND.
 “I had my old student ID card, which they originally told us would be good for the entire four years we were in school. He said I needed the new ID with the chip in order to vote.”
Read more: Oh, Brother? School to track kids with chips 
Attorneys for the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute, a conservative policy center that advocates for civil liberties, have filed an appeal for the teenager, saying that the school district is in violation of Hernandez’s First and 14th Amendment rights.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that government officials may not scrutinize or question the validity of an individual’s religious beliefs,” John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, said in a press release the group forwarded to HLN.
“By declaring Andrea Hernandez’s objections to be a secular choice and not grounded in her religious beliefs, the district court has placed itself as an arbiter of what is and is not religious. This is simply not permissible under our constitutional scheme, and we will appeal this case all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary.”
Update: On Friday, the institute sent HLN a statement, saying, "Andrea’s religious objection derives from biblical teachings that equate accepting a personalized code—as a sign of submission to government authority and as a means of obtaining certain privileges from a secular ruling authority—with a form of idolatry or submission to a false god."
ACLU: Tracking device 'vulnerable to hacking'
Also, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas told HLN that the school district's policy blatantly crosses the line from monitoring kids to outright "stalking".
"We have safety and privacy concerns about use of RFID technology on students in schools," Dotty Griffith, the ACLU's public education director, said in a statement. "The technology was originally designed for shipping goods and cattle, not taking roll at school, thus RFID chips make the perfect stalking device. Because the technology is easy to acquire, it is vulnerable to hacking which could allow someone outside the school to monitor a student’s off-campus whereabouts if they obtained the student’s tracking number."
The issue has spooked privacy advocates and added to an increasing backlash against RDIF devices, which have become commonplace in everything from T-shirts to grocery items.
HLN readers, we want to hear from you: Do you believe the proposed safety and financial benefits outweigh privacy concerns? Share your opinion with us in the comments.

2012 Teaching Tolerance Award Winners

Teaching videos of the five winners is at the link here.  http://www.tolerance.org/blog/2012-teaching-tolerance-award-winners

Submitted by Teaching Tolerance Staff on January 8, 2013

Every year, Teaching Tolerance hears from teachers who are going the extra mile to support students from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These teachers deserve to be recognized—which is why we created the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching.
On Jan. 25, this year’s five winners will receive their awards—and $1000 apiece—at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. And you can watch! Edweek Teacher will livestream the event starting at 2p.m. EST. Click here to get all the details.
The winners of the 2012 Teaching Tolerance Award are as diverse as their schools and students, but all of them reach out to families and value home culture. All of them see students as individuals with valuable lived-experiences. And all of them empower their students to be successful members of our diverse society.
Our congratulations go out to this year’s winners!
Robert P. Sautter
Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School (Kindergarten), San Francisco, Calif.
Sautter believes he has achieved the highest success when a student develops a strong sense of self-efficacy. “Creating a bond of trust is key in building relationships with my students of diverse backgrounds,” says
Sautter. He begins each school day with a “community circle” in which students greet each other using their home languages and implements a partnership plan with parents so they can share their goals for their children. “When I am shown the family photos, I listen attentively to the stories told,” says Sautter. “When I am offered dinner, I accept and participate in family customs—and I learn.”

Anna E. Baldwin
Arlee High School, Arlee, Mont.
Baldwin teaches English, composition and speech, and multicultural literature on the Flathead Indian Reservation. About 70 percent of her students are of tribal descent, but she never makes generalizations about her students’ backgrounds. “Culture emanates from more than ethnicity,” says Baldwin. “There is teen culture, home culture, as well as traditional culture.
So, I use [texts] that appeal to students’ interests, backgrounds and abilities.”  Her hope is that through “earnest discussion about things that matter, provocative assignments and texts, and supportive and honest relationships, students will leave [the] classroom with a better sense of themselves, their world and their place in it.”

Laurence Tan
122nd Street Elementary School (5th Grade), Los Angeles, Calif.
Five pillars of learning inform Tan’s teaching—engage, educate, experience, empower and enact. He values each student’s identity and celebrates diversity, even asking families to share their expertise with students through mini-lessons. At the end of the year he hosts a parent appreciation night where he and his students acknowledge the important role families play in their children’s educational success. Tan says his students succeed academically—and he accomplishes this by using a social justice curriculum. “The development of youth into socially critical and responsible individuals is of the highest importance,” says Tan.

Lhisa R. Almashy
Park Vista High School, Lake Worth, Fla.
 “Teaching is the best profession,” says Almashy. “Because our ‘products’ are human beings and we can be part of the vast resources they bring with them.” Almashy teaches ESL to 9th, 10th and 12th graders. Her key to success with English language learners is to teach them to integrate their home and school lives by taking the best from both cultures.  “I learn about my students’ values and experiences from their homes and communities by being
involved not only in their education, but in their lives.” Through celebrating her students’ lived experiences, she steps beyond the stereotypes and generalizations to understand each individual student.

Darnell Fine
Atlanta Neighborhood Charter Middle School, Atlanta, Ga.
As a child, Fine’s household was labeled “chaotic,” and Fine himself “a behavior problem.” Today, his past struggles motivate him to “build on the knowledge students bring from home … [and] emphasize meaningful connections to real-life contexts” in his classroom.  In addition to serving on his school’s diversity committee, Fine makes a point of building relationships with families. He acknowledges the value of his students’ home cultures by hosting open forums, town hall meetings and Socratic seminars. “In my classroom,” says Fine, “inclusion isn’t limited to celebrating cultural differences… [I provide] spaces for [students] to express their multiple perspectives.”

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Teenage tutors inspire young pupils, learn life skills in DPS program

There is nothing better than seeing tutoring programs that help children reach their potential. Combine this with quality high school students who serve as quality role models and everyone wins. That is the case at Clark Prepartory Academy in Detroit. Students are making academic progress as part of a company investing in the students at the academy in a variety of ways.

Teenage tutors inspire young pupils, learn life skills in DPS program

January 13, 2013  |  

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Husani Webb, 16, a junior at East English Village Prep Academy, left, tutors Louis McMillan, 12, a seventh-grader at Clark Elementary School in Detroit. / REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press file photo

By Chastity Pratt Dawsey

Detroit Free Press Education Writer

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Anna Hubert, 17, a senior at East English Village Prep Academy punches in for her job as a tutor at Clark Elementary School, a program sponsored by Lear. / REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press file photo

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Anna Hubert, 17, a senior at East English Village Prep Academy, left, tutors Nico Nettles, 14, an eighth-grader at Clark Elementary School. / REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press file photo

     Keon Thompson couldn't take his eyes off the sheet of paper that had his latest math test results. Beaming with a cherubic smile, he showed the assistant principal his test.
And the computer lab teacher.

And the girl sitting next to him.
Keon, who had a C- in math last year, had received a 100% on his test last week. The seventh-grader at Clark Preparatory Academy on Detroit's east side said he thinks he's one step closer to his goal of becoming a builder or mechanic due, in part, to the high school tutors who help him twice a week as part of a $1.5-million, three-year investment by Southfield-based Lear, a leading global automotive supplier.
"I'm always building stuff," Keon said, grinning widely. "Requires a lot of math."
Matt Simoncini, the CEO of Lear, attended Clark as a child and wanted to help DPS. He said his 14-year-old daughter listens to and looks up to honor-roll high school students who tutor her. So this summer, he pitched the idea to DPS emergency financial manager Roy Roberts, suggesting a program that would pay high schoolers to tutor Clark's middle schoolers.
Since then, 125 students from nearby East English Village Preparatory Academy have been trained. They take a school bus to Clark over the course of four days per week to tutor middle school students such as Keon for $8 per hour. Simoncini said it benefits students on both sides of the relationship.
"The high school kids effectively have what is a part-time job and motivation to be a good student because they have to maintain good grades and attendance," he said. "Grade school kids get role models and one-on-one help."
And the goal is to get other companies and schools involved.
"We hope we can prove that this works and use the program as an example for other organizations to take on in other parts of the city," Simoncini said.
During a recent tutoring session, assistant principal Murleen Coakley walked around the computer lab as tutoring groups reviewed lessons online. The tutoring already has made a difference, she said.
She points to a boy who has "found his spark" in math after getting one-on-one tutoring. Keon's 100% score on a weekly assessment also is proof the program making a difference.
"We're able to see if there's actual growth," she said.
The tutoring program aims to raise student achievement and support successful transitions to high school for Clark students who have low math scores. In 2011, 3% of Clark's sixth-graders scored proficient in math on the statewide MEAP test, 4% of seventh-graders scored proficient and no eighth-graders scored proficient.
As the tutoring program grows, other subjects will be added.
Lear has become the kind of business partner that every school dreams of. Besides bankrolling the tutoring program, Lear has provided extra unforeseen perks: more than 30 computers for the tutoring computer lab and the school-wide computer lab, electrical and networking upgrades and a tractor-trailer load of office furniture, said Steve Wasko, a spokesman for DPS. The company also paid for air-conditioning in the tutoring computer lab.
"When you get in a school and start to see the needs, you get engaged and feel compelled to address them," Simoncini said.
For the high school students, the program provides leadership skills and the chance to be a positive influence.
During a recent session, Mia Pugh , 17, a senior, took her hand and placed it over the hand of a special education student to help him write the correct answer to a problem.
And Husani Webb, 16, a junior, congratulated the students he tutors for correctly working out a problem that involved subtracting negative numbers.
"You did pretty good today, Louis," he said, to 12-year-old Louis McMillan, a seventh-grader. "I'm proud of you."
The high school students participate in the program as part of a new elective at their school -- leadership development. Four days a week, five hours per day, groups of high school students who have passed a math assessment and taken training participate in the tutoring. Each student spends two hours a week -- over two days -- at Clark and the other days they are with their class assessing and planning tutoring sessions.
The students "punch in" for each session by pressing their fingerprint to a high-tech time clock that Lear bought.
Marie Woodson, a retired Clark teacher Lear hired to monitor the tutoring sessions, said the high schoolers also get essay-writing practice because they write journal entries about each session. And they learn work ethics.
"They have to be on time for work," she said. "The bus is not going to wait for them."
Brandy Robertson, 18, a senior, takes probability and statistics class at East English Village High, and at Clark she tutors a student who is two grade-levels behind in math.
She said she gets satisfaction from helping and mentoring her student.
Asked what the middle school kids get out of the tutoring, she smiled and said, "Me!"
"When I was in middle school, I would've liked for somebody older from another school to have helped me," she said.
Contact Chastity Pratt Dawsey: 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com

 

     When the Republican controlled state legislature and Governor Rick Snyder saw the opportunity to make Michigan a Right to Work state among other initiatives last month, education was on the agenda and in particular attention were several bills that would give parents the right to takeover schools and strengthening charter schools. In the end, these measures will most likely be revisited and the only thing that really prevented the passing of the bills is the furor with the education industry and democrats that said there will be blood if the measures will be passed. That brings a story brought out by Diana Dillaber Murray of the Oakland Press who interviewed Dr. Vickie Markavitch of Oakland Schools and gave the Oakland Press her post Christmas wish list.

Oakland Schools superintendent issues ‘Wish List for 2013’

Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 -By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY- Of The Oakland Press
diana.dillaber@oakpress.com

Click to enlarge

After leading a battle against several proposed changes in operation of schools during December’s lame duck Legislature, Oakland Schools Vickie Markavitch has issued her “Wish List for 2013.”

The superintendent of the regional district that provides services to Oakland County’s 28 public school districts, said she wishes “that we focus our work in public education on those things that matter most and that we don’t get misled by political spin to support partisan agendas — no matter the party originating them.”

Markavitch predicts that how to fulfill Gov. Rick Snyder’s controversial “Any time, any place, any way, any pace” plan without dismantling the existing community-based system of public education is going to be a challenge for the 2013 legislative session.

She fears the proposal could be detrimental to the vast majority of Michigan students.

Markavitch is urging that data presented to the Legislature for proposed changes is documented and factual before any votes are taken.

“We must stay away from untried, unproven, radical reforms and stick with well thought-out reforms that have shown success over the long term.

“We must make sure that ‘any place’ and ‘any time’ do not become ‘any how’ delivered by ‘anyone,’ ” Markavitch said.

The proposal she is referring to was made by the Lansing-based Oxford Foundation-Michigan and currently is under review and has not yet been proposed as legislation.

It would provide $2,500 for each high school semester a student finished early for up to $10,000 for college. It would allow students to take classes online and at any school that would accept them.

Markavitch said she also is wishing to see a study this year on the adequacy and equity of Michigan’s school funding formula; something state Superintendent Michael Flanagan is advocating.

Markavitch said: “My wish list also includes advancing the use of technology throughout the teaching and learning process — blending its use with high-quality instruction.

“This would include greater availability and use of iPads and other mobile devices; integration of instructional applications vetted for quality; and most important, teachers becoming more and more the coach and mentor of learners rather than the developers of lessons.

“Finally, and perhaps most important, is that I wish we would focus very seriously on the greatest roadblock to learning — and that is poverty.

“Data nationwide as well as in Michigan is clear that our children in poverty achieve at lower levels than our children not in poverty. The issues of poverty weigh heavily on children and we have not yet found a way to beat those odds.

“We have many examples of success trending up with some poverty populations, but we have yet to reach and sustain success on a large scale,” Markavitch said.

“On international, national and state measures, education in the United States and in Michigan is moving upward, now we have to take care to keep that positive trend going,” Markavitch said.

This includes meeting the needs of each student while expanding opportunities for all students, she said.

Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at 248-745-4638 or email diana.dillaber@oakpress, or Twitter @DDillybar.

Oakland University focuses on improving the learning experience of students

GUEST OPINION: Oakland University focuses on improving the learning experience of students

Published: Wednesday, January 09, 2013

By Gary Russi

At Oakland University, the decision behind every goal we set and project we embark upon can be reduced to a simple question: How will this improve the learning experience of the students we serve, as well as benefit the broader community of which we are a part?

That question leads us to careful, strategically focused work, such as recruiting and supporting highly accomplished faculty and staff, maintaining rigorous academic programs to meet the needs of our students and regional industry and providing life-enriching experiences that help advance overall student development, promote our rich and diverse cultural heritage and build our sense of community.

As we venture into 2013, we are proud to say that we steadfastly maintained this focus last year. Faculty members respected across the nation and the globe for outstanding research and scholarship continued this work, all while delivering instruction in more than 260 distinctive undergraduate and graduate degree programs. As our continued student enrollment increases attest, Oakland has never been more widely known and respected for the academic opportunities it offers.

It's also safe to say that the past year will be remembered as a milestone period of structural growth on campus. Specifically, we worked diligently to address the bricks and mortar aspect of meeting regional higher education needs and expectations.

Early in the fall, we opened the doors to our state-of-the-art Human Health Building, which serves as the home of our Schools of Nursing and Health Sciences. Just weeks later we broke ground on an Engineering Center that will expose students to a new, highly advanced, industry-oriented academic setting starting in the fall of 2014. The university most recently announced plans to construct new campus housing designed to accommodate up to 550 additional freshman and sophomores starting in the fall of 2014.

 We will also remember 2012 as a pivotal year in the growth of our health care research and education goals. A second class of 75 students joined the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, which continues to capture the interest of thousands of highly qualified student candidates. The school won regional praise this year as a nominee for the Educational Program of the Year award offered by Automation Alley.

In the same light, the Oakland University William Beaumont Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine gained international attention for organizing and hosting the Second Midwest Conference on Stem Cell Biology and Therapy in the fall. These and other related events helped to broaden national awareness of Oakland County's Medical Main Street initiative, which is winning considerable attention on its own with efforts to make the county a renowned destination for health care services.

In September, we were pleased to reach our 15th consecutive year of student enrollment growth, and we are now within close reach of a milestone student population of 20,000. University budget planners worked successfully to keep Oakland’s 2013 tuition increase to 2.9 percent, boost financial aid by $2 million and maintain our status as the only state university that does not charge fees of any kind.

Over the past year, we encouraged our currently enrolled and prospective students to reach beyond the ordinary and to pursue and achieve accomplishments that may have seemed out of reach. At Oakland, we know this requires bold, yet considered choices, strong commitment and access to valuable resources and support along the way.

This year, Oakland University will continue to lead by example. We've seen growth beyond the ordinary in nearly every facet of our operations, and are confident that this inspires our students to reach the heights of their own potential.

As we're happy to provide the resources and support that students need along the way, we are also immensely grateful to the many donors, friends and organizations that have shown the university that very same support. These gestures are both critical and appreciated. Here's hoping 2013 allows all of us to reach our highest heights yet.

Gary Russi is president of Oakland University.

Michigan has thousands in cash that belongs to metro Detroit schools

Michigan has thousands in cash that belongs to metro Detroit schools, but they have to claim it 1st

Both Print and video stories are below

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Defenders-find-free-money-for-metro-Detroit-schools/-/1719418/18033006/-/v2jgdfz/-/index.html

Local 4 Defenders investigation uncovers schools from Canton to Pontiac, Troy to Warren have money owed to them, but many are unaware it exists

Published On: Jan 07 2013 12:20:02 AM EST  Updated On: Jan 07 2013 12:15:04 PM EST

Does your school have unclaimed cash?

DETROIT - Metro Detroit schools could have thousands of dollars coming to them, but they have to know about it to claim it.

A Local 4 Defenders investigation discovered there is a lot of money coming to area schools that the state is holding until someone claims the cash.

The Local 4 Defenders were given special access to the unclaimed property vault for the state of Michigan.
"This past fiscal year we received $177 million and the previous year we received $359 million, so we're talking in the millions of dollars," said Gonzalo Ilano the administrator for Michigan's Unclaimed Property Division.

"The state of Michigan serves as a central depository for all abandoned and unclaimed property in Michigan, most of what we receive is monies represented from checks that have gone uncashed," said Ilano.

That is millions of dollars sitting at the Michigan Department of Treasury that's owed to people, businesses and schools, unfortunately many are unaware the money exists.

 "I'm guessing these were probably checks that were written to the schools or the PTAs, or whatever the situation might be, and the checks just never got cashed. They fell through the cracks somehow, so by law, whoever wrote the checks out are required to turn those funds over to the state," said Ilano.

The list of schools that has money owed to them goes on and on to include metro Detroit  elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, entire districts.  There are also specific groups like the Northville high cheerleading squad, and Pontiac central high school swim team.

For example, the Local 4 Defenders found more than $1,800 for Canton High School.   The school's principal, Carrie Lawler, was excited to hear about the unclaimed cash.

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WATCH: Defenders find money for metro Detroit schools
"We're a school system and we're hurting for money, so we'll take whatever we can get. So, it's, it's not a ton of money, but I can definitely find a thousand ways to use it." said  Lawler.

Lawler said she wants to use the extra cash to help finance The Link Crew, a program that helps freshmen transition to high school both academically and socially.  The money would be used to help cover costs of meetings and supplies.

For Pontiac schools, the Local 4 Defenders discovered more than $5,000 in unclaimed cash.

"I guess it would've been nice, instead of the check sitting somewhere else, if that could've been forwarded to us, but you know what we're glad to get it, and we're glad to have the information from you that was a great, great phone call," said Dr. Brian Dourghtery of Pontiac Schools to Local 4 Defender Karen Drew.

Superintendent Dourghtery told Local 4 his district is facing a $25 million debt, and while the extra money won't solve his problems, it's still appreciated.

"Our teachers, our administrator, everyone is very in tune to this, that we don't have money for those little extras, said Dourghtery.

The money comes from a variety of sources including Coca Cola, which has a lot of uncashed checks to schools because of money owed to districts because of vending machines inside schools.  In other cases, the unclaimed cash is refunds from school photo sessions, grant money owed to districts, and schools that were unnecessarily taxed so refunds were issued.

The Local 4 Defenders uncovered Detroit Public Schools has thousands and thousands of dollars available for its students.  Detroit Public Schools released a statement about the money that said "we very much appreciate you bringing this to our attention, and we are setting up a system to regularly monitor the site you brought to our attention.  Every dollar counts, and any additional funds that are made available to DPS will be used to help us provide the nearly 50,000 students of Detroit Public Schools with the quality education they deserve."

As for the Troy School District, the Local 4 Defenders found about $8,000.

"We are pleased you brought this to our attention so we can get this money to the people that need it," said Kerry Birmingham the director of community and media relations for the Troy School District. "We believe that some of the money belongs to student groups, we believe that some of this money belongs to alumni organizations who are planning class reunions, and we believe some of it may be refunds that are due to the district and in times like this every organization, and every school and every student group could use every penny."

Clarkston Junior High also has cash coming to it, about $1,500.

"Fifteen hundred dollars can do a lot of different things.  I mean technology items, it could help with student learning, we could do things for teacher resources that we may not be able to purchase as easily. We can do, bring in some sort of guest speakers to help with certain programs that we wouldn't otherwise be able to do," said principal Adam Kern.

Kern began doing some of his own investigating after the Local 4 Defenders alerted him to the unclaimed cash.

"As soon as you contacted me and kind of gave me the email information, I looked it up and looked under Clarkston and found the junior high a couple times and then as I was looking through it more, our high school is on there three or four times, our central office is on there a few times, our community education, our Clarkston athletic boosters, our Clarkston foundation which is a lot academic information for us," said Kern.

Kern contacted the business director, superintendent and people at the central office to let them know about the money.

The Local 4 Defenders also found more than $500 for Lincoln Park high school, $1,600 for Detroit Country Day, more than $800 for the Ann Arbor School for Creative Arts, and more than $2,700 for Warren Woods High School.

Warren Cousino High School has $800 coming to it.

"So it would be fair to assume that this kind of money would be focused on children first as a means of supporting their education," said Dr. Robert Liverois, superintendent for Warren Consolidated School.

Liverois said his district regularly checks the unclaimed cash website.

"So we found it necessary to put a procedure in place that would allow us to formally pursue that money and we've been successful," said Liverois.

To check if your child's school could have unclaimed cash, click here.