By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI –
Michigan's teachers could soon have a place to turn if their schools are not providing basic school supplies. A measure in the education-reform package being negotiated at the state Capitol would create a system for teachers to file complaints about school supplies with the state Department of Education.
Tim Melton chairs the House Education Committee. He says the "Teachers' Bill of Rights" would provide swift action to supply classrooms with teaching necessities.
"It will immediately start a 72-hour window of investigation - the local district can fix it, or if not, the department will spend the money to go buy their books and supplies for them," he says. "Then the local district would have to reimburse them - so it's like a revolving fund."
One of the education-reform bills would also require that teachers' performance evalutations be based on their students' test scores. Melton says the state should make sure all teachers undergoing that evaluation have basic school supplies to work with.