Interview with David Sipka from Montague Area Public Schools

This week we talk to David Sipka, the new Superintendent of Montague Area Public Schools. He shares with us a unique view of what it is like to be half way into his first year as a new Superintendent of a Michigan Public School.

When asked about his most pressing issues, David advised, "Our district had been cutting into their fund equity for the last three years. In this past year, out of $1.2 million fund equity, they were going to take about $700,000 out of it just to fund the operations, and I said we just can't do that."

He goes on to say. "I stole Governor Granholm's line from her State of the State Address from a year ago. ""We need some reform, some restructuring, and some more revenue"". That has really been my mantra coming into the district."

Have you thanked your Superintendent recently? David thinks you should. "I really think the public needs to give a hug to all those educational leaders that are out there today, because there are a lot of great people in public schools that are working day and night, that sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a shot of adrenaline, thinking about what they have to do the next day or what challenges lie ahead."

Don't miss this interview. Listen to it, or just read the transcript. Either way, you will enjoy this podcast.

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Interview with Michael Bugenski from Michigan North Central Association - NCA

This week we talk with Michael Bugenski, Director of North Central Association in Michigan. He talks to us about the benefits, process, and history of NCA Accreditation as a process for improving school performance.

Michael refers to accreditation as not so much an end result as a commitment to a process. "It is not where schools are standing; it's how they are moving. It is a process of being vigilant about constantly improving and asking ourselves how are we doing."

When asked about the volume of schools involved in Michigan NCA, Michael advised: "1600 schools or just about half of the schools in Michigan are accredited by North Central".

Has your school given up NCA accreditation to save money? I would invite you to listen to this podcast.

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Enjoy the podcast! If you have a comment or question for the podcast or an idea for a future post send an email to podcast@insidemieducation.com.

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Interview with Dr. Ryan Olson from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy

This week we meet Dr. Ryan Olson, Director of Education Policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Ryan is the co-author of a new book with Michael D. LaFaive titled: "A Michigan School Money Primer - For Policy Makers, School Officials, Media and Residents".

Ryan talks to us about the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and this non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institute's efforts to help solve public policies, solutions to public policy problems.

He details the contents of several of the publications from the institute as well as his quarterly newspaper the "Michigan Education Report" which is available online at www.educationreport.org.

Be sure to listen to this insightful and informative podcast. We especially invite you to share this interview with people you know who might not be on our list already.

Click the arrow below to listen to the podcast.


Direct Link to the Podcast

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Enjoy the podcast! If you have a comment or question for the podcast or an idea for a future post send an email to podcast@insidemieducation.com.

Show your support for Inside Michigan Education by subscribing to the weekly Podcast.