Up North Progressive

Muskegon Heights Schools voted to hire a superintendent and go to the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District for management of their district for the next three years. The Muskegon Heights Charter School Board will draft the paperwork and vote to approve the changes to the school district on June 25th. Muskegon Heights Schools are still under the control of a Snyder-appointed emergency manager who has final authority on the changes proposed by the school board.

In 2012 the Muskegon Heights public school system was put under emergency management. The school district separated from the ISD and for-profit management companies were invited to bid on running the schools. Mosaica Education Incorporated won the bid and during the 2013 – 2014 school year not only were unable to pay their teachers for two pay periods in a row, but needed a $1.4 million emergency loan from the state to finish the school year. Mosaica now owes the state $2 million, but after filing for bankruptcy indicated in a public statement they are finished with Muskegon Heights Schools completely.

This is another blatant example of why Michigan’s public schools need to remain public. Charter Schools and the for-profit management companies taking our tax dollars to manage the schools have an established track record of rewarding themselves with high salaries for their ‘management’, but the school’s ability to educate children is always compromised when money that should be invested into the school is instead part of an LLC’s bottom line. Another chapter of Snyder’s failed attempt to privatize Michigan’s schools and run them on a budget closes. On November 4 we will put this epic saga of failure back on the shelf for good.