Education / Action Committee

EDUCATION/ACTION COMMITTEE

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The Education Action Committee follows education-related legislation, keeps LWVLA members informed about educational issues, and organizes programs for the general public. Since 2018, the Education Action Committee has been studying topics such as school funding, schools of choice, charter schools and online education. Eventually, we may suggest that the State League advocate for change. We welcome anyone who wants to join in the work.

2021 ACTIVITIES

• “Online Schools in the Charter World. How do they work?” Webinar, January 2021. Michigan Virtual Charter Academy, a long established virtual school, explained their curriculum and demonstrated their classroom practice. Speakers from the Michigan Department of Education described the legal and regulatory structure governing cyber schools.

•  “Online Learning: What does the Research Tell Us? How Should the Research Shape Policy?” Webinar, February 2021 featuring Dr. Michael Barbour of Touro University, California. Although the pandemic has called new attention to online learning, it began some years ago. Research into its effectiveness has yielded worrying results. Dr. Barbour focuses particularly on fully online charter schools, many of which are for-profit. 

2020 ACTIVITIES

• “The Impact of Schools of Choice on Lansing Schools” League Luncheon, January 2020 featuring Guillermo Lopez of the Lansing School Board. 

2019 ACTIVITIES

• “What Do We Mean By Schools of Choice?” - League Luncheon, February 2019: How the program came to be, its complexities, and unforeseen consequences. 

• “25 Years of Schools of Choice: What Do We Know?” - Community Forum, April 2019. Two speakers described in detail the history of how Schools of Choice has expanded educational options, but diluted financial resources for traditional public school districts, specifically urban high poverty schools and rural schools. 

• “What’s So Complicated About Funding MichiganSchools?” - Community Forum, October 2019. Two expert speakers described how the move from property taxes to state funding of public education has resulted in a decline of adequate funding in many school districts. 

Please check out these pertinent articles from the Education Action Committee:

• Performance of Virtual Schools & The Pandemic Response of Rural vs Urban Schools 

• Education Committee-50 MILLION KIDS

• Impact of Schools of Choice on Lansing School District

• Michigan’s Roadmap for Schools Fall 2020

• Enrollment in Virtual Schools in Other States

• Boom in Enrollment in Michigan’s Virtual Charter Schools

• Education in the Covid Year

• What Are Virtual Schools?

• o contact the chairs or to volunteer, please contact Bettie Menchik or Judith Andre.