Whooping Cough Spreads To Other Grand Traverse County Schools

Friday , 21, November 2014 Up North Progressive Section 16 Leave a comment

Kingsley Area Schools reported three confirmed cases of Pertussis in their schools, bringing the total number of cases to 34 in Grand Traverse County.

Traverse City Area Public Schools currently has 15 confirmed cases of Whooping Cough spread over six school buildings. School officials have assured the community they have taken steps to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly but preventable disease from spreading further. Most students attending TCAPS are vaccinated.

The Whooping Cough outbreak in Grand Traverse County originated with for-profit charter school Grand Traverse Academy. A high number of cases developed there which forced the school to close for an entire week. Currently, GTA has 16 confirmed cases of Pertussis and 166 possible cases at that school. State records show that nearly 20% of GTA’s enrollment have vaccination waivers in their school files.

The alarming number of Whooping Cough cases occurring at GTA emphasizes the importance of everyone attending school – whether it is a public school or a for-profit charter school – to be up to date on all immunizations.

Republicans With Bad Ideas: Michigan Electoral Vote Edition

Wednesday , 19, November 2014 Up North Progressive Candidates 5 Comments

Of all the stupid ideas Michigan Republicans want to consider for the 2016 election, it doesn’t get much more obtuse than splitting electoral votes based on how people vote in congressional districts. Republican Pete Lund’s House Bill 5974 according to him would make Michigan more competitive and popular for presidential candidates. He thinks by splitting up the number of electoral votes a candidate can win, it will make them want to come to Michigan, and the state will be more relevant in the 2016 presidential election.

Pete Lund couldn’t be more wrong.

Lund’s electoral vote splitting bill would actually have the opposite effect and only an idiot can’t see the reason why this is such a bad idea. Don’t see the problem? Fine, let’s make it easy and use a sports analogy.

When people compete for a grand prize, they don’t expect to only win part of it. People want to win all of the prize. Do we cut off a piece of the Stanley Cup and give it to the losing team?

Hell no we don’t. Nobody is going to play hockey all season, make it to the playoffs and knock off every other team to only get PART of the Stanley Cup. Can you imagine what that NHL board meeting would be like if someone suggested they could make professional hockey more competitive by splitting the championship prize between the winner and loser? You can’t imagine it because no one in their right mind would suggest it.

Pete Lund and other Republicans have delusions of making Michigan more competitive this way. They believe that by splitting Michigan’s electoral votes so that the winner gets only some of the state’s votes, that will make the state more competitive, the candidates will want to spend more time stumping in the state, and then Michigan will be more relevant in the general election.

Here’s the problem with that cunning plan: Presidential candidates know they need to win as many electoral votes as possible to make it to 270 and win the White House. Depending on whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, you know there are key states that you have to win to gain enough electoral votes. These states are unpredictable election to election. One year the people may vote Republican, the next they will vote Democratic. That’s why they’re called swing states.

If these candidates know out of Michigan’s 16 electoral votes the best they can do is 12 because the other guy is going to get 4 for being the loser, what’s the point of spending that much time in the state when other states award you with all of their votes on election night? Michigan becomes irrelevant. Presidential candidates spend less time here and more time in other states where it’s still winner take all.

House Bill 5974 is not about making Michigan more enticing in a national election. The purpose of this stupid idea is to figure out a way to make sure a Republican wins more electoral votes in Michigan even if the Democratic candidate wins more popular votes. The Nerd said he would veto this bill if it makes it to the governor’s desk, but you can’t trust Snyder with anything he says. He likes lying to the people of Michigan too much when it suits him.

The Michigan Republican Party understands the importance of winner take all, at least at the primary level. In 2016 the Republicans want to hold their primary on March 15. The reason for this is to take advantage of new Republican National Committee rules which sets when states may hold primary elections where the Republican primary candidate who wins the election gets all 60 Michigan Republican Party delegates. Funny how Republicans seem to understand well enough that winner take all will make the state more competitive, but want the exact opposite for the general election in November because it will make the state more competitive.

Stupid people with a really stupid idea. But then, it came from the Republican Party.

3,548,319 Reasons For-Profit Charter Schools In Michigan Must Be Eliminated

Monday , 17, November 2014 Up North Progressive Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 Leave a comment

That’s how much money Dr. Steve Ingersoll stole from Michigan taxpayers when he embezzled $3,548,319 from Grand Traverse Academy.

Miss Fortune has the letter the for-profit charter school’s attorney sent to Ingersoll demanding he pay that money back immediately in June of 2013.

Ingersoll was indicted for felony fraud by a federal court in April of 2014.

This is only one man who has stolen money from the state and the federal government. There are currently 232 for-profit charter schools operating in Michigan leaching your tax dollars away from public schools. The Detroit Free Press exposed more management companies also living large off of the state with money that is supposed to educate our kids.

The new chancellor of Rick Snyder’s failure of a school district, the EAA, is being paid $325,000. A judge just ruled the state doesn’t have any responsibility to provide a quality education to Michigan children. That means more free market garbage perpetuated by the school profiteers who don’t give a damn if your children can read or not.

Are you sick of this yet?

Winter Storm Warning For Northern Michigan

Monday , 17, November 2014 Up North Progressive Community, Environment Leave a comment

The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids issued a winter storm warning for 1 pm this afternoon to Tuesday, 9 pm for the following counties:

Charlevoix
Cheboygan
Lake County
Mason County
Oceana County
Otsego County

Heavy snow accumulations of 1 inch per hour  with winds up to 25 mph will create hazardous driving conditions and wind chills near zero. Give yourself extra time to reach destinations. If you can stay home during the storm, do so. Stay safe everyone. Winter is back early again this year.

Opening Weekend Of Firearm Deer Season: The Silence Is Deafening

Saturday , 15, November 2014 Up North Progressive Community, Nerd Problems 24 Comments

Don’t blame the snow, that’s not the reason why so few people are up north hunting on the opening day of deer season – on a Saturday. Any hunter will tell you snow during hunting season is a good thing, because it makes it easier to see movement in the woods and track the deer you just shot. Red shows up better on white than it does on brown. Sure, they have lots of snow in the UP and that’s making it harder to get out and hunt, but what about the rest of the state? Why aren’t we hearing guns in the woods this weekend?

Northern Michigan relies on seasonal tourism to survive economically. One of the biggest tourism seasons after the summer is firearm deer season. The last two weeks of November traditionally means people take vacation time to come up north and hunt whitetail deer. Not only do sporting goods stores, such as Jay’s in Clare rely on deer hunting season for sales, but many other shops, hotels, and restaurants look forward to the extra business.

This year, despite November 15 being on a Saturday, which would allow more people to participate in the hunting season, deer license sales are way down. The reason? Rick Snyder back in 2013 proposed raising fees on hunting and fishing licenses, claiming it would generate more revenue for the DNR. That proposal thanks to the Nerd and Republicans became law, and now a $15.00 firearm deer season license for an antlered deer became $31.00. Want a doe permit too? It costs $5.00 to enter your name in the lottery that runs from July 15 to August 15. If your name is chosen, congratulations, your doe permit is $20.00, adding to the total for the privilege of hunting in Michigan a whopping $56.00.

And that’s the cost for Michigan residents to go hunting. Out of state license fees cost $171.00 for hunters to come to Michigan and hunt. A huge rise that made hunting in Michigan too expensive for some out of state hunters. They stayed home, and that means their money stayed home too. Money that would have been used to pay rent, buy gas and food, supplies for deer camp and everything else hunters spend money on when they come up north to go deer hunting.

The hike in fees also makes it too difficult for folks who live in Northern Michigan to hunt. Often, venison is a reliable and cheap source of meat for poor families struggling with lower wages, fewer jobs and cuts to everything else. Now it’s too expensive to legally hunt for deer for many people.

The higher fees mean people are buying fewer licenses. Does this mean they’re not going to hunt? Poaching could be on the rise in Michigan as hunters frustrated with not being able to afford the cost of hunting legally, but rely on being able to hunt to feed themselves and their families may resort to hunting illegally.

Opening day on a Saturday in Michigan, and it’s way too quiet here.

The New Teacher Project Is Recruiting Teachers With Craigslist Ads In Michigan

Wednesday , 12, November 2014 Up North Progressive Section 16 19 Comments

If you’re like me, an unemployed school teacher with years of experience in the classroom yet can’t find a job, it probably seems odd to see an ad like this appearing anywhere in Michigan. This state lays off teachers every year thanks to Rick Snyder cutting a billion dollars from our K-12 budget while raising the cap on for-profit charter schools. They in turn leach tax dollars from the public schools and transform it into profits for the private sector.

So why is this ad in Michigan of all places? Don’t they know there is no shortage of teachers for the jobs in this state, and in fact really great teachers are being forced out of their chosen profession? On top of that, new teachers in Michigan leave their college and the state to find a full time job teaching in another state because there are no jobs here. Once again, Rick Snyder’s economic policies have stifled job growth to the point that we have had zero improvement since he took office in 2011.

This ad is listed on Lansing’s Craigslist because Michigan Teacher Corps is a front for The New Teacher Project. TNTP is the organization of former TFA recruit and education reform lobbyist Michelle Rhee. She started TNTP as a spin off of Teach For America with a similar mission, which is train people and call them teachers, then put them in schools and take jobs away from professional, traditionally educated teachers. Anyone who wants to be a “teacher” signs up for TFA or TNTP and goes through a 5 week training course in the summer, then they are placed in a for-profit charter school or other for-profit education venture, such as John Engler’s K-12 Online Education that you see tons of ads for in the summer in Michigan. Now that Michigan is a freedom to freeload state, these “teachers” will enter the teaching workforce as non-unionized teachers.

The New Education Project does more than just take jobs away from real teachers, they’re also one of the loudest voices for merit pay and consequences (like losing your job) based on teacher evaluations, tied into Arne Duncan’s Common Core State Standards. Common Core is now firmly in place in Michigan, thanks to Rick Snyder and Republicans making it and high stakes testing used for teacher evaluations part of Michigan’s school landscape.

Michigan Teacher Corps is not answering the call of desperate public schools unable to put teachers in classrooms, this venture is designed to put even more real teachers out of a job.

Michael Moore’s Traverse City Theaters Are Free For Veterans Today

Tuesday , 11, November 2014 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

For-Profit Charter School Grand Traverse Academy Closed For Whooping Cough

Monday , 10, November 2014 Up North Progressive Section 16 1 Comment

Due to a whooping cough outbreak, Grand Traverse Academy is closed until November 17. There are currently 10 confirmed cases and 83 probable cases. Attendance at the school today dipped below 70% of enrollment, which triggered the closing.

In case you’re wondering, that’s an alarmingly high rate of infection.

Whooping cough is a preventable disease with vaccinations that protect people from contracting it. It’s transmitted through being in close proximity to others who are already infected. Untreated, the disease is deadly, especially in small children and infants. Other infections that result from whooping cough include pneumonia.

The health department has advised everyone who attends the charter school to not go out in public, according to charter school superintendent Susan Dameron. The students who are sick are being treated for it. According to experts, it takes about 2 weeks to contain a whooping cough outbreak. Staff and students from the school are now taking prophylactic antibiotics for the rest of the week.

Almost 20% of students attending GTA have immunization waivers in their school records. This means they are attending school without vaccinations that prevent the spread of highly dangerous and infectious diseases like whooping cough.

It would be interesting to know if the number of students attending for-profit charter schools have a higher rate of illness due to lack of vaccinations.

Does This Mean A Charter School Could Have An Emergency Manager? The Continuing Story of Dr. Steve Ingersoll

Saturday , 8, November 2014 Up North Progressive Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 Leave a comment

For-profit charter school Grand Traverse Academy held their school board meeting on November 7, 2014, to discuss among other things the deficit the for-profit now has to deal with thanks to vision therapy optometrist Dr. Steve Ingersoll.

Grand Traverse Academy, the public charter school on Hammond Road, has a deficit of about $365,000, according to its 2014 audit report. This is the first time the school has been in deficit, officials at the Michigan Department of Education said.

School officials will have to submit a two-year deficit elimination plan to the state. School board members are scheduled to discuss the recently-released audit at their meeting Friday.

This deficit is the result of former management company Smart Schools LLC extracting $2.4 million in prepayment for expenses, but never paying back funds the company owes to the school when Steve Ingersoll no longer managed GTA. Where did this money go? You’ll have to stay tuned for the federal fraud trial set to start on December 2. Miss Fortune of course has all the details.

Question to Governor Nerd: If for-profit charter schools run deficits, can they have emergency mangers foisted on them too?

How Oregon Rocked The Vote With This One Weird Trick!

Saturday , 8, November 2014 Up North Progressive Community 5 Comments

By now, the reality and hangover of last Tuesday’s election has subsided. Despite Democratic party efforts to motivate independent voters, it just didn’t happen. Republicans swept the Senate, and in Michigan, we’re stuck with four more years of the Nerd. Snyder’s already announced he’s raising taxes, as if we didn’t know that would happen before the election.

The news in most states is similar to that of Michigan; more Republicans won than Democratic Party candidates, despite the Republican party being embroiled from within with a civil war between tea party and establishment factions. Pretty sad when the Democratic party can’t win against a party at war with itself. While we look for a silver lining (there are none) and ahead to 2016 (the GOP’s control of the Senate will be very short), the Democratic party needs to stop and take a look at the national map. One state did great with voter turnout, and in every major election, Democratic candidates won.

Oregon elections are run differently than any other state. On Tuesday, they had 69% voter turnout, and they’re enjoying a Democratic Governor and Senator. In fact, Democratic candidates won big in Oregon on election night. How did they manage to do what the Democratic party couldn’t do anywhere else?

Oregon’s election is accomplished with 100% mail-in ballots. This means everyone in Oregon votes absentee. There are no polling stations, no long lines, no waiting. Every registered voter in the state receives a ballot in the mail in mid-October, and must be returned by eight ‘o clock the evening of the election. Just like how absentee ballots work in Michigan.

Oregon elected a Democratic Governor, Senator, and out of their five US House seats, four are Democratic Party.

Why can’t Michigan do that? Why can’t the nation do that? This would nullify most of the states using voter suppression tactics to keep people from voting. Have to work on election day? No problem! You don’t have to take off time from work or stand in line for hours after work to vote. Just fill out your ballot and drop it in the mail. This would solve problems for the disabled, the elderly, and everyone else who are disenfranchised because they can’t make it to the polls. It also means all of the registered voters who stayed home on election day have no excuse.

Election-by-mail would make it much easier for more people to participate in elections. Michigan needs to do this. I can’t think of a better ballot initiative for the state to pursue than make us an election-by-mail state. What do you think?