Is the Gov going to go south on the Pontiac Schools sweetheart deal for Oakland Republicans???

When Chad Livengood of The Detroit News broke the "skunks works" story last spring -- the story of the Governor's secret attempt to create low budget "public" schools outside public scrutiny, a necessity after his education reform plans went down in December 2012 lame duck -- he handed his project over to Mike Flanagan, State Superintendent, so all this would seem legitimate in some way.


Flanagan first issued a goofy Youtube video on education and technologyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2_j6JEuuGQ ..... and then got down to business: saving public education by dissolving school Districts. Remember "unbundling"? We really haven't left that spot.

The Governor's new MDE front man (what job does he get after retiring in 2015?) got Saginaw Buena Vista and Inkster. And he would have got Pontiac.

But Oakland County pols still have some L. Brooks Patterson type clout on such issues. When "our" Republican Senators realized that education "reform" meant complicating life for Bloomfield, Birmingham and Troy, too, they leaped in to action.

Our guys had the dissolution law changed so that no District with more than 2500 kids could be dissolved.

Pontiac was too big to fail! BHSD was delighted! And no Oakland County Republican had to say the unthinkable truth: on education the Governor is just full of it and bad for this area and probably most other areas  in the state, too.

Political cowards. There really is no other way to put it.

At any rate, charges of racism (amongst other things) flew and the MDE appointed a consultant (750k) over two years to work with Vicki Markavitch to keep Pontiac afloat.http://bloomfield-mi.patch.com/groups/ken-jacksons-blog/p/em-by-any-other-name

Last week, during the EAA debacle, Mike Flanagan -- changing positions three times in as many days -- got back around to Pontiac, saying it was "teetering." He thinks it is beyond saving:http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131212/SCHOOLS/312120107/1026/schools/Michigan-education-chief-...

This sounded very much like a threat to Oakland County. Either get with the EAA program or lose your sweetheart deal on Pontiac.

But, today, it turns out, Pontiac has met its deadline for filing a financial plan, extracting 4 million in concessions from teachers: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20131217/pontiac-school-district-meets-state-deadline

The 2014 (election) question is, though, will the State Treasurer (not Andy Dillon, who really didn't want any part in a racially charged situation like this) accept this plan. http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/resigning_michigan_treasurer_a.html

The Mackinac Center seems to be saying, just like Mike Flanagan, no way, curiously posting on the topic just this morning.http://www.mackinac.org/19460

Oakland County Republicans are really caught in a pickle here it seems. Some one might just have to stand up and say, boy, did we blow it on education.

Sorry, taxpayers and parents, we tried the 70s style back room deal, but it blew up in our faces. And we screwed up one of the best situations in the state.

Alternately, they could develop a spine and say what everyone knows. Oakland County schools have sustained this area through thick and thin (including the housing bubble). People move here for the schools and the communities they sustain. The war on teachers and teachers' unions has run its course. We have no more fuel to burn there with out scarring ourselves.

But that would mean taking on "one tough nerd" -- the Mackinac Center -- and the hapless Mr. Flanagan.