Michigan Student Caucus

1. Michigan Student Caucus Winter Platform 2012

2. Justice and Equity Topic Coordinators: Megan Knuth and Andrew Snow

3. Background Info • How can we make policies that better ensure that all groups and individuals in Michigan are treated fairly by government, by law enforcement, by employers, and by each other? How can we better ensure that everyone's civil, economic, and human rights are protected, while also protecting the public good? • Students brainstormed ideas that would help the state of Michigan to ensure equality for all while maintaining justice

4. Prominent Ideas and Issues • Many ideas were centered around different certifications for new drivers • One of the most popular was an extra certification including classes for driving in snow and winter conditions • Discussion about the proper implementation of Bridge Cards • Students want to make sure that only those who absolutely need this money receive it

5. Town Hall Meeting • Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie spoke to our class about the issues he sees everyday in his job including the great violence juries see during their trials and how counseling should be provided • He spoke about the change in status for violence against women throughout his years • He also spoke about how a greater police presence, like the program later initiated by Governor Snyder, would help reduce crime rates in Michigan

6. Welfare Recipient Drug Screening Program Brent Petrone

7. History • Michigan Random Drug Testing Law • Marchwinskiv. Howard • Deemed unconstitutional by federal appellate court • Violated the constitutional ban against unreasonable search and seizure • Problems • Sixth Circuit Court issued no opinion in the case • Vote= split 6-6 • Tie vote had effect of affirming a district court decision striking down the program • Florida and Missouri have both implemented drug testing laws in recent years

8. Welfare Recipients and Eligibility • 2.5 Million Michigan residents receive one or more forms of welfare benefits • 220,000 people receive cash benefits • Michigan Department of Human Services • Eligibility • Determined by Local Social Workers • Resident of Michigan • Citizen of the United States • Low cash assets (limits around $3,000) • Income limits • No Drug Testing

9. Expanding on House Bill No. 5223 (2011) • Targeted at Family Independence Program benefit recipients • Monthly drug testing paid upfront by recipients • Positive test= ineligible to receive benefits, regardless of type of drug • Individuals who test positive will be able to designate another individual to receive benefits on behalf of their children • Negative test= receive monthly benefits and cost of test will be reimbursed through benefit payment • Failure to take test= receive no benefits • Exceptions • Medicinal Marijuana • Prescription Drugs • Implementation and Oversight • Administered and overseen by Michigan Department of Human Services • Individuals receiving benefits on behalf of welfare recipient’s children will be given payment in the form of an electronic benefit transfer card (similar to debit card) which can be tracked to make sure benefits are being used properly for the children of the original recipient.

10. Revision of House Bill 4551 John Wojciechowski

11. Perambulatory Clause • House Bill No.4551 states that teachers and school administrators will be evaluated through an objective process. Their students' performance will be measured through "assessments and other objective criteria." The instructors and administrators themselves will also be evaluated through a "transparent process." • It should be stated in the bill that the testing done to measure the students' performance must be not only objective but also well rounded • The evaluations of the students should not take too much time out of the week and instructors should not be allowed to prepare in class for the test prior to. This means that there should not be classes dedicated to passing the test. If the teacher is doing their job, their students should already know the material.

12. Operative Clause • This bill being revised in this way will keep teachers from narrowing their lessons down to only teach their students how to score well on the evaluation of the students. • The reason these specifications about the bill should be made is because of the problems seen from the testing given by states from the Bush Administration's No Child Left Behind Act. • Also, the standardized tests used for the No Child Left Behind Act are not cheap. The making and selling of standardized testing is a $1.1 billion industry. With each test costing states about $15 a piece. • The reason there should not be time allowed for teachers to over prepare their students for the test is to prevent the teaching of the day to day lessons, which is the most important thing here.

13. Consolation Clause • Former Virginia Public Schools teacher • Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. • Myself

14. Arts & Culture Topic Coordinators: Scott Tuchfeld Andrew Eisbrouch

15. Arts & Cultures • A number of proposals focused on education reform based on curriculum changes with regards to culture • Proposals focusing on Art Fairs • Proposals chosen were: • “Creating Urban Art Parks in Michigan Cities” • “Arts & Cultural Education Requirements in all Middle Schools Across the State of Michigan”

16. Arts & Cultures Town Hall Meeting • Jim Burnstein, U of M screenwriting professor and former Vice Chairman of the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council • Lectured on funding cuts with regards to Michigan’s film incentive program • Discussed how important film industry could be to Michigan in terms of economic gains and cultural gains Jim Burnstein

17. Allowing the Creation of Urban Art Parks Alex Redman William Grenis

18. Proposal • Many cities and towns in Michigan have laws preventing graffiti in place that are too general and create a limitation on positive artistic expression by urban artists. • An example in Ann Arbor Legislature is Chapter 106 Nuisances, Section 9.6, which states, “No person who owns or otherwise controls or manages any property shall permit or allow any Graffiti to be or remain on any surface or structure on the property beyond the time indicated in a notice…“ • We propose that the State of Michigan create a law overruling local ordinances such as this, allowing for the creation of graffiti art in designated areas. • In addition to this law, we propose the State of Michigan require Michigan’s largest cities to designate a small section of at least one of their preexisting city parks as “Urban Art Parks”.

19. Urban Art Parks • The proposed “Urban Art Parks” would create an opportunity for urban artists to express themselves. • This would be achieved by providing an outlet for graffiti artists (using anything from the wall of a building that is contained within the park to a concrete structure erected within the park) and also allowing amateur sculptors to place their works within the area designated for the art park. • These designated areas would be managed by a third party interested in promoting artistic expression (such as ArtCorps or The Sauvé Art Foundation) or a team of local volunteers.

20. Need • There are many graffiti artists whose creativity is stifled by not having an appropriate place to create their graffiti art. • By creating an acceptable place for graffiti artists (and other urban artists), the amount of graffiti in inappropriate places will potentially be reduced. • Art has been shown in many different studies to be beneficial for growing children, and many children living in urban areas do not have the resources to express their artistic talents. • Many non-artists appreciate looking at graffiti and other forms of urban art. These Art Parks could attract tourists to the cities that establish these parks, ultimately adding to the cities revenue.

21. Plausibility and Reception • There are several examples of Urban Art Parks currently in existence such as “The Heidelberg Project”. This is an example of an art park that has developed into a self-sustaining entity (through revenue generated from guided tours and other sources) and even occasionally features work done by professional artists. • Amanda Sansoterra, theEmergingArtistDirector for theHeidelberg Project calledourproposedart parks a “great idea” andgave us severalideas as to how to makethe parks more realisticconcept. • We surveyed several art teachers in the Ann Arbor Public School System to gauge interest on the proposal. Everyone that responded was very supportive of the proposal, and several indicated they would be interested in volunteering at the parks if they were established.

22. Arts and Cultural Education Requirements in all Middle Schools Across the State of Michigan Sol Lee, Calie Morrow and Sam Pearl

23. Background Arts and Culture School Activities:  Long‐term decreasing trend, however, there has been a more rapid decrease over the past decade Art: Students who take four years of arts and music classes while in high school score 98 points better on their SAT • In 2010, Michigan implemented the biggest cuts to state-wide art funding biggest cuts of 80%.  Culture: Students lack knowledge about other cultures stereotypes and assumptions about other cultures • Limited number of ethnic festival activities • Stereotypes and racial profiling is a growing issue in the United States, especially effecting Arab-Americans • Arab Americans as an ethnic group are “caught in the crossfire” • Hate crimes and other acts of vengeance skyrocketed nationwide against Muslims and other immigrants from the Middle East following the 9/11 terrorist attack

24. Proposal • Two-fold proposal: The education system should increase middle school student’s education and exposure to arts and culture • Art: Exposing students to visual, performing and applied art opportunities • Many students who have difficulty learning through traditional methods can benefit from teaching strategies that include other means of learning and subject areas, such as the arts • Culture: Educating students on other cultures and thus combat the stereotypic views our media conveys • Inside the classroom: Social Studies Classes • Outside the classroom: Ethnic Festival Activities (field trips and class culture shows) • Reducing stereotypes of Arab-Americas and stereotypes at large

25. Curriculum • Arts: Changes in the Michigan Merit Curriculum of Credit Guidelines for Visual, Performing, and Applied Arts • The State Board of Education’s expectation should be that all Middle School students must achieve at the basic level in each of the Visual, Performing & Applied Art and achieve proficiency in at least one of these disciplines • Culture: Changes in the Michigan Curriculum Framework under Strand II. Geographic Perspective Standard, I. Diversity of People, Places, and Cultures • Specific guides to educate students on their cultural backgrounds and others should be added to the resources in tier 3

26. Human Development and Welfare Topic Coordinators: Brent Petrone and Alyssa Steinway

27. Goal: Ensuring that all Michigan residents have opportunities to grow into well-educated, well-adjusted, and healthy individuals. • Town Hall: Prison Creative Arts Project • Program Staff discussed with 40 students the prison system, PCAP, it’s mission, and the effects it has on it’s participants

28. Popular Topics • 62 Brainstorm Topics and 34 Proposals • Education Reform • Merit Pay, Tenure Reform, and School Choice • Vocational Training Programs • Mandatory Physical Education Classes • Financial Courses in Michigan high schools • Nutrition in Michigan Public Schools

29. Class Sizes for Grades K-12 Capped at 20-23 Students to Promote Academic Achievement Written by Elizabeth Canvasser

30. The Problem With Class Sizes Today • There is no bill or proposal that deals with the number of students allowed in a class size to promote academic achievement. This means, that a class in the K-12 grade system may have well over 30 students, where students are more likely to fall behind. • Class sizes are large because many schools believe that the money is better spent elsewhere. • There is not enough money in school budgets to pay for smaller class sizes and to hire more teachers. • Hundreds of new teachers are leaving Michigan for positions in other states, a reflection of Michigan’s wealth of teaching colleges, shrinking number of students and budget woes that have forced schools to cut staffs.

31. Studies show… • USA TODAY states that size alone makes small classes better for kids. Study shows that it is less about how teachers teach than what students think they are capable of doing, which means that they get more one-on-one time with the teacher and are able to work more efficiently in small groups. • Students are more focused and paid more attention in class and misbehaved less because there was more interactions with the teacher and worked more in teams/ small groups. • NPR states there is no research or real data that truly supports more unprepared and less qualified teachers willbe hired if more teachers are needed in order to produce smaller class sizes.

32. How Are We Going to Make Smaller Class Sizes? • Teachers that have positions, will not be laid off and more teachers will be hired. • To help pay for this, there should be layoffs from the school’s “extras” • Example: multiple vice principals, number of lunchroom staff, numerous secretaries/paraprofessionals, etc. • More funding needs to be directed towards smaller class sizes instead of extra curricular activities. • Cut block scheduling because it contributes to bigger class sizes. Teachers have more prep-time to plan for longer and larger classes.

33. Getting Back to Nutrition in Schools Elise King

34. IMPROVING HOUSE BILL NO. 4325 SEC.31D.(7) & BUILDING OFF HEALTHY HUNGER FREE KIDS ACT • House Bill No. 4325 Sec.31d.(7) states, “preference shall be given to food that is grown or produced by Michigan businesses if it is competitively priced and of comparable quality,” but there is no current bill pertaining to nutrition of food for sale in schools. • We are trying to change this bill, by making nutrition the main factor in which institutions choose their food. • The State of Michigan shall require all food served in or out of the cafeteria to be of high nutritional quality. This includes school stores, vending machines, and any food sold multiple times weekly outside of traditional school lunch programs. • Schools must eliminate unhealthy foods outside of school lunch programs by being below caloric, sugar, sodium, fat and saturated fat maximums. • This proposal is in accordance with the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 which regulates cafeteria and food service nutrition.

35. WHY CHANGE IS NEEDED • 17% of children in the U.S. are obese. From 1980 to 2000, obesity rates for children tripled. • A poor diet can lead to many life threatening diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, lung, esophageal, stomach, and prostate cancers. Poor nutrition also has negative effects on behavior and academic performance. • Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats contribute to 40% of daily calories for children and adolescents aged 2–18 years, affecting the overall quality of their diets. Approximately half of these empty calories come from six sources: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk. • Adolescents drink more full-calorie soda per day than milk. Males aged 12–19 years drink an average of 22 ounces of full-calorie soda per day, more than twice their intake of fluid milk (10 ounces), and females drink an average of 14 ounces of full-calorie soda and only 6 ounces of fluid milk.

36. HOW TO CHANGE HOUSE BILL NO. 4325 SEC.31D.(7) • First off, we would like to improve current Michigan Bill to put nutrition before saving money. As of now, institutions chose their food based on price rather than nutrition. • To change the nutrition in schools, we would like to implement the ideas of The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 beyond cafeterias . This program has been phasing in healthier requirements to all school lunch programs, creating better cafeteria offerings. • Schools using NSLP & Healthy Hunger Free Kids requirements offer students well balanced meals that limit caloric and sugar intake. No more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. School lunches provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories.

37. HOW TO CHANGE HOUSE BILL NO. 4325 SEC.31D.(7) • The State of Michigan shall require all food served in or out of the cafeteria to be of high nutritional quality. This includes school stores, vending machines, and any food sold multiple times weekly outside of traditional school lunch programs. • Schools must eliminate unhealthy foods outside of school lunch programs by being below caloric, sugar, sodium, fat and saturated fat maximums. • Vending machines would have to follow the above requirements and would only be allowed to sell low fat milk, water, and 100% juice as NSLP requires. This would require a change in orders from vendors to suitable items only, which all vending machine product manufacturers offer, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi's wide range of beverage brands.

38. END GOAL OF CHANGING NUTRITION BILL • The goal of changing House Bill No. 4325 Sec.31d.(7) is to increase the health of students. This program will limit individual items sold to calories less than 150, no more than 30% of calories from fat, no more than 10% calories from saturated fat, total fat less than 50%, no more than 180mg sodium, no more than 40% daily sugar, and saturated fat 12% • Each school should be required to apply for grants that are offered by USDA and other organizations that support healthy nutrition in schools. • House Bill No. 4325 Sec.31d.(7) should be edited to only straying from USDA NSLP meals if Michigan food is of equal or better nutrition, not “comparable quality.”

39. Environment and Health Topic Coordinators: David Kozlowski and Joshua Zeman

40. Goal of Environment and Health Asked students to make policies that would create healthier and more sustainable environments across Michigan. Also wanted to make policies that would help residents of Michigan lead healthier lives. Policy Ideas included a tax on plastic bags, more accessible recycling bins, healthier options in school cafeterias.

41. Environment and Health Town Hall Meeting • On March 28, Dr. Barry Rabe from the University of Michigan Gerald Ford School of Public Policy spoke to MSC. • Dr. Rabe spoke about his research concerning public opinion and climate change in Michigan and across the country. • Spoke of how a majority of Americans believe that state and local governments share responsibility for addressing the issue of climate change.

42. Environment and Health Proposals in Platform • Requiring Schools Throughout the State of Michigan to Have AED Machines • Authored by Josh Leighton and Scott Tuchfeld • Protect Michigan’s Great Lakes • Authored by Brett Singer and Charles Breitbart

43. Requiring Schools Throughout the State of Michigan to Have AED Machines Josh Leighton and Scott Tuchfeld

44. The Idea • Reduce the risk associated with not having AED devices on site (particularly at sporting events) • An increase in activity-related deaths that could have been prevented with an AED machine • On November 8, 2011 a group of Michigan Senators introduced Senate Bill No. 801, which would "ensure that an automated external defibrillator is present at the public school, and that the automated external defibrillator is readily accessible to staff, pupils, volunteers, and guests."

45. The Proposal • Expand Senate Bill No. 801 to include all elementary, middle, and high schools as well as public universities and public recreation centers • Require two or more AED machines per institution • The Revised School Code Act 451 of 1976 should be amended to require teachers to be re-certified every 5 years or upon new hire for AED training.

46. Consultations • High School Physical Education teacher • High School Assistant Principal • Peer baseball player involved in freak accident

47. Protect Michigan’sGreat Lakes Proposed by Brett Singer & Charles Breitbart

48. The Problem: Statistics • On average, 24 billion gallons of untreated sewerage are being released into the Great Lakes each year • In 2009, over 3,000 beaches across the state closed due to high pollution and bacteria level • According to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s “Testing the Waters 2010” report, which examined the highest bacteria levels amongst 3,000 ocean beaches, bays, and lakes across the nation, Michigan had 3 beaches ranked in the top 10 • More than half of of Michigan’s streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands have been left vulnerable to pollution, many of them leading to the Great Lakes • The Great Lakes accounts for approx. one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water • “The lakes contain the world’s largest system of freshwater islands, some of which are refuges for rare and endangered species”

49. The Problem: Effects • The pollution of the lakes harm not only the surrounding environment and local species but also harm the amount of tourists in the area • Drinking water: 30 million people across the nation rely on the Great Lakes for water everyday • The region is home to 30% of Canadians and 10% of Americans • Fishing: Approx. 5 million people fish in the Great Lakes • Wildlife: Restricts wildlife and fish growth, wildlife deformities and spread of diseases, degrades natural communities, and limits wildlife consumption • Tourism/Economy: Detriment to Michigan’s $12.8 billion travel industry, as pollution hinders recreational activities

50. The Solution: Take a Stand • Michigan should take a stand and set precedent for surrounding states to further protect Great Lakes • Propose adding civil infractions for polluters to SB 0176 • Need to reprimand anyone who dumps wastes into wetlands, rivers, and lakes with a fine, that varies by the amount or type of waste dumped • Create designated dumping areas to protect the water supply of the Great Lakes and its wildlife • Wetlands can help filter pollution before it enters the Great Lakes • With about half of the historic coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes being lost, now more than ever we need to protect them • Increased funding is necessary to clean up pollution, but without civil infractions, will be a waste of money, since there would be no consequences prohibiting people from continuing polluting