Senator Polehanki’s first statement is as follows:
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to vote “no” on this amendment, and here’s why. As I explained to the Senator from the 37th District in committee, the School Index System components are not aligned with what the public would view as a standard grading system, so it’s not a matter of simply sticking letter grades onto schools in the School Index System. That would be an apples-to-oranges proposition that would need federal approval which is a lengthy process that I see as a misuse of limited resources for a duplicative and inferior process. The School Index System coupled with the Parent Dashboard that was created with significant parent input are sufficient indicators of school performance for anyone seeking that information.
Senator Polehanki’s second statement is as follows:
I rise today to ask you to vote “yes” on House Bill No. 4166 which would eliminate the A-F school accountability system. A-F is a second education accountability system, after the federally-approved School Index System. Passed without a review of its alignment to federal ESSA requirements in the 2018 lame duck session, the A-F system alone is insufficient in meeting federal requirements and even violates a section of federal law. Most importantly, the A-F system is redundant to the School Index System and pales in comparison in scope and precision. It should be noted that the repeal of the state’s duplicative and inferior A-F system does not affect the popular and user-friendly Parent Dashboard, developed using parent focus groups and launched in January 2018.
Thank you, Mr. President, and I ask my colleagues to vote “yes” on House Bill No. 4166.
Senator Singh’s statement is as follows:
I wanted to lend my support to this legislation and explain why I’m supporting it. We have a system that is duplicative of what is actually in federal law. Federal law has created a system that all 50 states are required to utilize; we have that system in place. Based off that system, the Michigan Department of Education created a portal for parents. I would ask each of the people in the minority to actually go to the parents’ portal and take a look at it. When you do, you will see that it’s easy to utilize, it is transparent, and it actually makes all the pieces that are part of the federal requirement make sense. It was created by parents with feedback by parents, so it is a transparent system. All you’re doing is removing this duplicative process that was put in at the last minute in 2018 in the lame duck session when even some of the final people who voted for it now regret that they voted for it. What we’re doing here is what we were asked for by superintendents and school boards—the people who are working in our education system. I am pleased to support this removing the duplicative process because we have transparency in the system with the parents’ portal.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 127, entitled
A bill to amend 1967 PA 281, entitled “Income tax act of 1967,” (MCL 206.1 to 206.847) by adding section 261.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: