In the last hours, the budgets for K-12 education and general government appeared to be the sticking points.

The Republican-controlled Senate could forward a temporary or continuation budget to the governor but Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, had said he did not want to do that in favor of passing a permanent 2009-10 budget.

At last report, the Democrat-controlled House was voting on the K-12 budget, which includes a $218 per-student funding cut. It appeared not to have the votes to pass.

On the Senate side, Republicans have gone into caucus.

Tempers flared in that chamber after some Democrats refused to give “immediate effect” to some budget bills they opposed and Republicans put an income tax up for a vote. (Immediate effect is a sort of supermajority required to send the budgets on to the governor.)

The tax increase — an income tax hike — put up for a vote by Republicans — was not the sort of budget-balancing revenues most Democrats had in mind. The measure was roundly defeated and Democrats cried foul, saying putting up the income tax for a vote — and not a more narrow tax such as a bottled water deposit — was political.

Afterward, Bishop said Democrats were playing politics because of their refusal to vote for immediate effect. Bishop claimed it was the governor — and her control of Senate Democrats — that blocked budget progress.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, called the income tax vote “crap” and said his caucus could not support the all-cuts budgets proposed by Republicans.

Some Democrats have said they want revenues as part of a solution, but most said they didn’t want to see a vote on a broad tax like the one Republicans put forth: an income tax increase.  (Revenue proposals have included ticket taxes or a bottled water deposit.) The vote failed overwhelmingly, with only two Senators supporting it.

After the votes, the party leaders in the Senate held dueling press conferences. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop accused Democrats of disrupting the deal and said the governor was to blame.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi called the income tax vote “crap” and said his caucus simply wouldn’t go along with an all-cuts budget solution.

Prusi said he doesn’t think Bishop will put up a continuation or temporary budget for an immediate effect vote, sending it to the governor.

The Senate would have roughly 50 minutes now to do that.

In the House, some members have said the plan is to push remaining budgets through before midnight — even the tougher ones like K-12 education and general government, which includes revenue sharing to cities.

But if the budgets pass the House, they would still need to pass the Senate.

Rick and I are still in Lansing — we’ll be here until at least midnight.

Follow twitter.com/tonytagliavia for the little bits and pieces coming out…

lots of little bits and pieces coming out — follow me on twitter (twitter.com/tonytagliavia)

House Speaker Andy Dillon is now on the floor (9:49pm) talking with Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop.

K-12 is one of the most contentious budgets because it would cut $218 in funding for every district for every student they teach. In Grand Rapids Public Schools, the cut would exceed $4 million. Kalamazoo and Forest Hills would see cuts over $2 million and Portage and Kentwood would each see a roughly $2 million cut.

The K-12 budget bill was put up for a vote in the House this afternoon but it didn’t have the votes to pass.

Which brings us back to the talk in the Senate.

Having no K-12 budget could be feasible, people on the Republican side of the Senate are saying, because state payments to schools aren’t due until later in October. The state would have several weeks, in theory, to figure out a school budget and how to fund it.

But a spokeswoman for House Democrats said the idea wasn’t really part of the plan in her chamber.

We’ll keep our eye on it.

–Tony

We’re waiting to see if the Senate will pass the continuation budget on to the governor, which would give lawmakers another 30 days to arrive at a final 2009-10 budget. A spokesman for the majority leader says he’d rather see work on a final budget rather than voting on continuation.

(Meanwhile, on the House side, the first attempt to pass the K-12 budget was ended after it could not get enough votes to pass.)

As far as the regular budgets, Senators are waiting to vote on the corrections and general government budgets, which will come from the House. (General government includes revenue sharing.)

The Michigan State Police budget will originate here on the Senate side.

Rick Albin and I remain at the Capitol and will keep you posted.

During remarks at his last meeting as a board member, Allen said union leaders, including President Paul Helder, did not bring a potential contract agreement to member teachers in February.  District teachers just finished their second school year without a contract.

“Imagine that: seven people deciding the fate of over 1,700.  That does not sound like a democracy, it sounds like a dictatorship, ironically one of the things of which [the union] accuses (Superintendent) Dr. Taylor,” said Allen, a one-time board president. He said the union’s tactics have mirrored a 2003 warning presented by a staffer at Michigan Association of School Boards

Allen, who has served since 2002, also discussed what he saw as successes during his tenure: the passage of a school bond, making needed building and program cuts, more schools meeting state and federal standards and looming high school reforms.

In an interview after the meeting, Helder told 24 Hour News 8 Allen is entitled to his opinion.  But he said there never was a tentative agreement he could have presented to his membership.  And the union president said he would literally be willing to be locked in a room with negotiators until a contract is settled.

“We’re offering right now again: go into a building, chain the doors — we’ll get flat food, you can slide it under the door,” Helder said.  “And we’d like Dr. Taylor there as well.”

Also Monday night, the board approved pink slips for 141 teachers.

The district typically recalls most of the teachers who receive the slips, although because of lower than expected retirements and the elimination of 95 full-time positions, that may not be the case this year.

Those 95 positions will be cut through not replacing retirees, moving some teachers from full- to part-time and laying off some teachers.  Helder said he expects roughly 30 retirements this year.
Also Monday night, Superintendent Bernard Taylor offered a moment of silence for two members of the school community who lost their lives recently, including Nathaniel Jones, who was shot Thursday afternoon near Fuller Avenue and Kalamazoo Street SE.

GRPS has announced LEED certification, a nationwide environmental designation, for Gerald Ford Middle School. It’s the third district building to receive the honor.  A fourth has applied for it.

The board also approved the lease of Park School, 1150 Adams Street SE, to Michigan Family Resources/Head Start.

Keep it here for the latest.

–Tony

The district celebrated the honor with a ceremony Monday morning.

Six Michigan schools applied for the designation.  The honor is given to those schools that meet extensive criteria — including “academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity and organizational structure” — developed by the group.

Bottom line, state coordinator Steve Hoelscher told 24 Hour News 8, is those surveying the schools are looking for models of middle school education.

“Is this a place where I would want my child to attend?” Hoelscher said.  He said the winning schools should be places any teacher from around the country could visit to see an example of best practices in education.

GRPS board meeting, May 4, 2009.

A team of Grand Rapids Public Schools students took top honors in nationwide math and language competitions at the National Academic Games tournament in Tennessee.

GRPS’ “senior team” — Kierstdea Furey, Theodore Petzold, Terrance Carrothers, David Casaletto and Michael Myckowiak — took first place in “equations” and “linguishtik” at the competition, held in April in Knoxville, Tenn. and billed as the largest such tournament in the country.  Myckowiak and Petzold earned perfect scores in the two competitions.  Furey earned a perfect score for “linguishtik.”

 The district’s junior team took third place in “equations” and the elementary team took third in “on-sets” and fourth in “linguishtik.”

Two from the elementary team — Jack Culp and Adrian Bonilla — earned perfect scores in “equations.”

The students were honored at Monday’s GRPS board meeting.

Thomas Ankenbauer, of Portage, and the teacher he deemed to be “most influential,” Christopher Adrian, of Kalamazoo, will travel to Washington to be honored in late June.

“Every year for nearly half a century we’ve been honoring America’s best and brightest students and every year they continue to make outstanding contributions to society while reaching milestones in their academic pursuits,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. “This year’s ‘Presidential Scholars’ continue that trend.  They are shining examples of excellence in academics and in the arts and are role models that all students should emulate.”

Two students from each state are selected for the honor.  Michigan’s other winner this year is Aparana Anathasubramaniam, of Troy.  Andrea Jarrett of Saline was selected as one of 20 in the U.S. named scholars in the arts.

The students are selected based upon their “academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.”

A 29 -member Commission on Presidential Scholars, appointed by the president, makes the determination.

Thomas Ankenbauer