• House Committee Approves Extension of Special Education Alternative Certification
• Senate Education Committee Continues Hearings on Dyslexia Screening Requirements
• State Board of Education Hears Presentation on Educational Jobs Recovery
• Save the Date! Spring 2024 Behind the Scenes at the Capitol

House Committee Approves Extension of Special Education Alternative Certification

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee approved Senate Bill 518, which extends the provision to allow special education teachers to receive interim teaching certificates. Without the extension, it will expire on July 21, 2024; this extends it to July 21, 2027.

This alternative path has made it easier for schools to employ special education teachers. MASB supports this bill to address staffing shortages and support the teacher recruitment challenges districts are facing. 

Senate Education Committee Continues Hearings on Dyslexia Screening Requirements

The Senate Education Committee continued hearings on Senate Bills 567 and 568 regarding the early detection of dyslexia and requiring teacher preparation institutions to teach specific literacy-related material. 

This week, the committee heard from many organizations and individuals about their experiences with dyslexia and the need for these bills to help catch our struggling students early.  It also heard from two superintendents and the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators with support for the concept but concerns over how prescriptive the process within the bill is and the challenges it would create for educators.

We strongly support ensuring we are identifying kids with signs of dyslexia as well as any other reading disabilities but continue to have concerns with the details of Senate Bill 567 and its prescriptive nature, which we outlined in written testimony to the committee.

Testimony on the bills will continue next week.

State Board of Education Hears Presentation on Educational Jobs Recovery

On Tuesday, the State Board of Education heard a report based on data from the U.S. Department of Education regarding students interested in becoming teachers. Michigan Department of Education officials pointed to the significant investments that have been made to address the teacher shortage in Michigan and that those investments are showing results. 

The USDE ranks Michigan second in the nation for educational jobs recovery between 2019 and 2023 and one of only seven states that saw any increase. Also, we are seeing an increase in the diversity in our teaching staff, while we acknowledge there’s still room to grow. In the 2022-2023 school year, more than 10% of teachers identified as an ethnicity other than white (compared to 36% of their students), a two percent increase over 2015.

In all, the report was good news for our state, school districts and students.  We will continue to support efforts to strengthen our teacher pipeline and support those in our workforce.  

Save the Date! Spring 2024 Behind the Scenes at the Capitol

The Spring Behind the Scenes at the Capitol event is in its planning stages. Save the date for April 24, 2024, in the Mackinac Room of the House Office Building in Lansing. This event gives members an opportunity to advocate on behalf of their school districts and advance MASB Legislative Priorities to our elected officials. Registration will open in late February.