lawmakers told Reforms needed for Michigan to win education stimulus funds

Flanagan's comments before the House Education Committee coincided with the release Thursday in Washington, D.C., of the application states must file to aion kina compete for shares of $4 billion in funding. Release of the application and final requirement by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan started the clock ticking on the 60-day deadline.

Also Thursday, Flanagan announced the selection of 13 demonstration projects, involving 52 school districts, selected to begin innovative strategies using public and private partnerships to help change the way aion kinah is delivered to Michigan school children. The projects will be showcased in the state's proposal for Race to the Top funding.

Reforms to qualify for the funding would include several measures opposed by teachers, including linking teachers' job evaluations to how their students perform on standardized tests, making it easier for people with nonteaching degrees to be certified as teachers, or opening more charter or alternative schools.

"We have to have a number of pieces of legislation or we will not win Race to the Top," Flanagan told the panel. "Colorado and some other states are exceeding the aion account requirements. If we don't exceed the minimums, we're going to lose the race."

The House and the Senate each have proposed their own package of education reform bills. MEA lobbyist Dave Stafford told the committee that some of the proposed reforms would hurt education in the state. He said if teachers are evaluated on the basis of their students scores, some teachers will be aion power leveling reluctant to take on hard-to-educate students.

"The kids who are under-performers often get channeled into the teachers who work best with those kids," Stafford said. "If you now tell me that my job depends on how well kids do on their tests, I'm going to say no, no, no."

Stafford also outlined the stringent training it now takes to become a teacher, including nearly five years of college, and a year of unpaid student teaching. Graduates must teach for five years and take additional coursework before their certification is permanent, and even then they are required to take continuing education courses throughout their careers. He said his group opposes allowing people with nonteaching degrees to quickly become certified.