May 14, 2009

 LANSING – The State Board of Education on Tuesday presented Linda Bushong with the 2009 Stella Gikas Professional Support Staff Excellence Award.  The award, first presented in 1991, is given annually to an outstanding support person in the Michigan Department of Education.

Bushong, a secretary in the department’s Office of Grants Coordination and School Support Services, has been employed at the department for 28 years.

State Board of Education President Kathleen N. Straus presented Bushong with the gold apple Gikas Award and certificate at the State Board of Education’s monthly meeting.

The Stella Gikas Award is named after a long-time State Board of Education support staff person and is given to an employee who provides leadership to others, outstanding service to education, dedication to excellence, and maintains the highest professional standards.

Relaying some of the statements submitted with the nomination of Bushong for the award, Straus stated, “As the lead secretary for the School Nutrition Training and Programs Unit, Linda has taken new staff under her wing, whether clerical or professional, and has made them feel welcome and guided, and trained them so they can complete their work. She has a wonderful personality and gets along with everyone she works with.”

Bushong, a resident of Grand Ledge, thanked the State Board of Education and those she has worked with the Office of Grants Coordination and School Support Services.  After receiving the award, Bushong said: “I’m very touched and honored, but I’m just doing my job.” Bushong and her husband John, are parents to their three children: Jamie, Joe, and Scott.

In other action Tuesday:

The State Board voted unanimously to support the concept of Project Re-Imagine, an initiative developed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan to urge districts to dedicate themselves to significant and substantive reforms. It is built upon the State Board’s priority to re-imagine the pre-K through grade 12 education system in Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Education will be selecting up to 20 Demonstration Districts across Michigan to implement and test dramatic district-wide reforms that will significantly improve learning for all students.

Flanagan told the State Board that school districts will be able to use their windfall federal dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to begin implementing their reforms. But as the U.S. Secretary of Education’s “Race to the Top” grants become available, Project Re-Imagine Demonstration Districts will be incorporated into the state’s plan to seek additional funds to reform and improve Michigan’s educational system.

Applications for school districts to become Project Re-Imagine Demonstration Districts will be available at the end of April.

The State Board unanimously recommended the state Legislature to require 180 days and 1,098 hours of pupil instruction for schools using a seat-based model of education, while allowing for the continuation of waivers of such days and hours by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction to explore and promote innovative educational models.

The Board also unanimously recommended the state Legislature maintain the requirements related to the current Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests, as opposed to moving toward an off-the-shelf test that is proposed by House Bill 4771 and Senate Bill 56.

The Board also supported legislation to mandate state certification for school administrators, as was previously in state law.

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm was nominated by the State Board for the 2009 Policy Leader of the Year Award, given by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). Board Treasurer Marianne Yared McGuire nominated Granholm for “all of her work on early childhood education.” Others nominated by the State Board for NASBE awards were former State Board of Education member Eileen Lappin Weiser for the Distinguished Service Award; and the Skillman Foundation for the Friend of Education Award. These national awards will be announced by NASBE in June.

The State Board also cancelled its July 14 meeting