Latest news with #Rice
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan Republicans allude to dismantling Department of Education in fiery hearing
Michigan Board of Education President Pamela Pugh (left) and Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice (right) listen to members of the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 | Photo by Ben Solis Two top officials with the Michigan Department of Education on Tuesday defended the current state of Michigan schools amid House Republican calls for dismantling the department and allusions to taking public education back to a time when literacy rates were at some of their lowest in modern American history. Board of Education President Pamela Pugh and Superintendent for Public Instruction Michael Rice appeared Tuesday before the Michigan House Oversight Committee, which included a lengthy presentation on the department's goals, its latest budget requests and some heavy back and forth between Republican lawmakers. Several Republican members of the committee, including its chair, Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay), lambasted Pugh and Rice over low literacy rates and flailing math scores. Eventually, the specter of tearing down the department and starting anew with a department controlled closely by the Michigan Legislature materialized from Rep. Jaime Green (R-Richmond). Before dismantling the department became a topic of conversation, Rice and Pugh attempted to show the committee that schools, students and educators have been making progress in multiple ways to achieve Michigan's Top 10 Strategic Plan, which did include record achievement in several areas. Part of that forward progress was seen in the passage of new literacy and dyslexia laws, some of which were spearheaded by Greene, who worked closely with Rice to make that reality. Rice and Pugh extolled how much of a difference those laws will make in the screening of all children for dyslexia, for example. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The pair also praised the Legislature for increasing funding to public schools over the last few years, but said those budgets did not make up for decades of underinvestment in public schools a decade earlier. Pugh discussed some of the challenges currently facing schools and the effect disinvestment has had on public schools, not only on student needs and achievement, but also the state's teacher shortage. 'It is critical and crucial to understand that the challenges before us are not new,' Pugh said. 'They are the result of long standing policy decisions that prioritize cost-cutting over sustained investment in our children and our schools. Despite these challenges, the state Board of Education has remained resolute in our mission to reverse those harms and build an educational system that truly serves all Michigan students.' Pugh said students, as well as teachers, parents and administrators, were doing their best to provide a quality education in the face of crowded classrooms, aging buildings, limited access to mental health and special education services and what she called an alarming shortage of adequately paid teachers. 'These issues are not anecdotal,' Pugh said. 'They are symptoms of systemic neglect.' Rice added that Michigan's four-year graduation rate had improved to the highest level in state history, growing to about 83% in 2024, which is also the highest that figure has been in the last 10 years. The percentage of adults with a post-secondary certification (51.8%) was on track toward Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Sixty by 30 goal. The initiative aims to have 60% of Michigan adults between ages 25 and 64 holding some sort of post-secondary credential by 2030. There were moments of seeming common ground between Rice and the Republicans who control the powerful House Oversight Committee, with Rice praising Public Act 146 and Public Act 147 of 2024 addressing literacy coaching and dyslexia screening assessments and interventions. Progress was being made, but Rice noted that Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS, training was needed for educators to keep up pace and do better on the literacy front. Rice called for mandatory LETRS training for kindergarten through fifth grade classroom teachers, and lower class sizes for kindergarten through third grade classrooms. Rice said there was also a need for more in-person instructional time, as there had been cases of professional development days being treated as student instruction days in 2019, and 15 virtual days being counted as the same in 2023. The meeting, however, was not one of the House Education Committee meant to discuss budgetary needs and goals, but rather one designed as a means to grill department officials over failures in public education. That became clear in lines of questioning from Rep. Brad Paquette (R-Niles), who engaged in a lengthy and at times testy tit-for-tat with Rice and Pugh. Paquette, a former teacher, said he's seen all the headlines showing the breadth of Michigan's public schools struggles and that he has been on various House committees in the past that dealt with public education and the budget. In that vein, Paquette said he's seen similar presentations from Rice before and, despite additional funding over the last few years, Michigan schools are continuing to struggle. 'We've increased funding yet results are still tracking downward,' Paquette said. 'When does accountability come into play?' As Paquette became frustrated with Rice and Pugh's answers, Pugh said accountability needed to be based in reality. From there, Greene, who received a shout out from Rice for her work on the dyslexia screening law, turned the conversation toward the perceived need to dismantle the department, echoing Congressional Republican calls to do the same at the federal level. Pugh said that studies have shown that states with elected boards like Michigan's, and not under the control of the governor's office or the Legislature, provided critical checks and balances, and correlated with better student outcomes. Those systems were also tied to more equity in funding and policy consistency. Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), hailed the fact that the 'Greatest Generation' of the early 20th Century had class sizes of 30, 40 or sometimes 50 children and that they fared fine. He made other meandering comments before being cut off by DeBoyer in the essence of time. More questions than answers on school vouchers as a legislative oversight committee wraps up As the meeting wrapped, Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), tried to set the record straight on various comments made by his Republican colleagues. Wegela called out Schriver's point, noting that the early 20th Century was a time of rampant racial segregation, and that literacy rates today were far higher than they were in the 1920s. Schriver at one point brought up vouchers for school choice programs, which Wegela said in Arizona, it was found that parents spent that money on items like toys and other merchandise instead. He also noted that Michigan cannot talk about its problem with schools without looking at funding adjusted for inflation. 'Record funding is only as good as saying we have record wages today,' Wegela said. 'When you adjust for inflation, we are barely ahead of the year 2000. This has created a classroom size problem, and a teacher shortage.'
Irish Independent
a day ago
- General
- Irish Independent
All the photos as creativity, good humour, and excellence is celebrated by CBS New Ross students
Both teachers, Mr John Halligan and Ms Eleanor Tighe, coordinated the awards programme with great care and attention, while the smooth running of the event on the day was ensured by organisational expertise of Ms Amanda Butler, Ms Mag Rowe and Mr Jim Kavanagh. The Principal of the school, Ms Sarah Rice extended 'special congratulations to three major award winners' on the night. Ellie O'Connell was recognised for her 'outstanding sporting talent and commitment', being crowned the Sports Person of the Year; Head Girl, Niamh Doyle Maher, was presented with the Sixth Year Academic Award as her 'exceptional academic performance and leadership were rightly celebrated'; and Aidan Douglas was presented with the Edmund Rice Spirit Award 'for living out the values of compassion, service and integrity at the heart of our Edmund Rice tradition.' Another special mention and presentation was made to Sean Royce on receiving the LCA 1 Student of the Year Award, which recognises a student who has 'demonstrated outstanding commitment, growth and excellence' throughout the Fifth Year Leaving Certificate Applied programme. The Transition Year students were also celebrated on the night, commemorating 'a year of growth, experience and leadership,' according to Ms Rice. 'Our Transition Year students marked the conclusion of a dynamic and memorable year at their Graduation Ceremony. The event reflected the breadth of experiences undertaken by the TYs, and the personal growth they each achieved along the way,' she continued. The programme was led 'with great energy and vision' by Ms Aoife Codd, TY Coordinator, along with Ms Amanda Butler, TY Year Head, whose 'dedication and support ensured a rich and varied TY programme'. The two standout awardees from TY are Hannchen Van Der Merwe, for the Leadership Award as she was recognised for her 'initiative, maturity and positive influence among her peers'; and Logan Venn Keane upon winning the TY Spirit Award, 'whose enthusiasm, creativity and good humour embodied the true spirit of Transition Year.' 'We are proud of all our TY students and look forward to seeing what they go on to achieve in the Senior Cycle and beyond,' concluded Ms Rice.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reports say Manchester aldermen already have 'significant authority' over school budget
New reports from the Manchester city clerk and solicitor's offices suggest making the local school district a city department wouldn't give the mayor or aldermen much more power over the school budget then they already have. The reports appear as an agenda item for Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, scheduled for 7 p.m. at City Hall. An effort to ask Manchester voters if they support making the school district a department of the city, a topic debated on and off for decades, was given new life recently when Mayor Jay Ruais broke a 7-7 tie to send a request to look at either making the Manchester School District a city department or granting the mayor the power to set the district's budget to the aldermen for study, ahead of possible placement on the November election ballot. While the school district isn't a city department, aldermen must approve its budget. For the matter to appear on a municipal ballot this November, aldermen need to take a final vote on the matter by Tuesday, June 3. City Clerk Matt Normand and City Solicitor Emily Rice were asked to research the topic ahead of a vote on the matter, with the understanding that the goal was to give the mayor more say over the school budget, including line-item veto power. In her report, Rice writes that she investigated the issue through the lens of establishing authority of the aldermen over the budget of the Manchester School District. 'It is the opinion of this office that the Mayor and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) possess significant authority in this regard under both the current charter and applicable state law,' Rice writes. Rice points out the mayor has 'extensive authority over the form, procedure and adoption of the city's annual budget,' and the school district budget is subject to the approval of the BMA. 'If the BMA rejects the budget as submitted, the school committee is required to 'submit a revised budget which shall not exceed the maximum dollar amount established by the board of mayor and aldermen,'" Rice writes, quoting the city's Charter. 'The Charter contains no language which would, after rejection by the BMA, permit the submission of (a) school department budget which exceeds the maximum amount established by the BMA. 'It does not appear that seeking to amend the Charter to make the school district a department of city government would be an effective means of attempting to add to the city's significant existing authority over the school district budget.' Rice adds any such amendment would be subject to numerous controlling state statutes and administrative rules governing the authority and responsibilities of local school boards, school districts and superintendents. In a report on his on findings, Normand writes he was asked to present to the board a comparison of charter sections related to the school district within the current City Charter (known as the 1997 Charter) and the previous City Charter (known as the 1983 Charter), to the extent that the district had previously been considered a department. Normand also reviewed the 1996 Charter Commission minutes. 'It is clear that the commission was very deliberate in maintaining the same level of authority for both the district and the BMA outlined in the 1983 City Charter while making minor changes they believed would clarify responsibilities of each,' Normand writes. 'In summary, there is no appreciable difference between the two charters as it relates to the school district. There is no section of the 1983 City Charter that represents the district as a department; in fact, the 1997 City Charter expanded the seats on the Board of School Committee from twelve members to fourteen members (at-large positions), reiterated that the school district budget shall constitute a single line item, yet gave future mayors the ability to veto all acts of the aldermen including actions related to the entire budget or any line item thereof, for the first time.' Efforts to bring city schools under the umbrella of city government have fallen short over the past 20 years.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Arsenal player makes Champions League Team of the Season
Declan Rice has been named in the Champions League Team of the Season for 2024/25, after Arsenal's run to the semi-finals of the competition. Photo byThe official UEFA Champions League social media pages have announced their 2024/25 Champions League Team of the Season, as selected by UEFA's Technical Observer Group. Advertisement The team is primarily composed of Paris Saint-Germain players, following their 5-0 win in the final of the competition against Inter Milan last week. But a few players from other clubs have been selected, including Arsenal's Declan Rice. The other three non-PSG players are Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni, who made the final, and Barcelona's Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, who were eliminated in the semi-final. UEFA Champions League Team of the Season for 2024/25 Rice made 13 appearances for Arsenal in this season's Champions League, only missing a League Phase game against Inter Milan through injury. The midfielder was used as a substitute for the final League Phase game against Girona, but he started the other 12 matches, scoring four goals and assisting two more. Advertisement The 26-year-old's most notable moment was the 12-minute spell in which he scored two free-kicks against Real Madrid, and those goals only underlined a couple of outstanding displays in that quarter-final tie. Photo byIt was ultimately a shame that Rice was unable to play the same role for the home leg of the semi-finals against eventual champions PSG, with Thomas Partey's suspension forcing Mikel Arteta to adapt and drop the England international deeper. Arsenal ended up falling short 3-1 on aggregate, but if they hope for another long run in the Champions League next season, Rice will surely play a major role again.
Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Sport
- Evening Standard
Arsenal FC: UEFA snub bold Mikel Arteta claim as Champions League Team of the Season announced
After efforts against Dinamo Zagreb during the league phase and in the last-16 second leg against PSV Eindhoven, unquestionably Rice's standout moments in this season's Champions League - and indeed of his entire Arsenal career to date - came in the quarter-final opener at home to Real Madrid, when he netted two remarkable free-kicks in the space of just 12 second-half minutes to inspire a commanding 3-0 victory over the stunned holders at the Emirates Stadium.
