Public+School+Teachers+to+be+Shared+With+Private+Schools+in+Mich.+District

= Plymouth-Canton plans program to share teachers with private schools = =By Steve Pardo= =//Published in The Detroit News//= =//5/8/11//=

=//Canton Township// — School districts facing multimillion-dollar deficits are cutting programs but also trying creative ways to maintain services. Sometimes that means using your neighbor's ideas.= =For years, Livonia Public Schools has had its teachers make up for declining enrollment by leading elective classes at local private schools. Under the "share time" program, the district gets the private school's per-pupil funding for that class and keeps its teachers employed.= =Advertisement= =Now neighboring Plymouth-Canton plans to try the program this fall, starting with parochial schools that Livonia has been serving.= ="We think we can make between $400,000 up to $2 million," district spokesman Frank Ruggirello said. "There are a couple of schools in the area that Livonia has been providing that service for, and we've been letting them. Livonia does a good job."= =A shared-time program is one in which the state allows a public school to pick up teacher salary costs of non-public schools in non-core curriculum areas. The non-core areas include music, computers, art, foreign language, physical education and some additional classes — including Advanced Placement courses for grades seven through 12.= =The private school benefits from the teacher salary savings and the public school district receives the per-pupil money from the state for the time the teacher spent educating the private school students that day.= =But Plymouth-Canton gets first crack at the schools if they're within the district's borders.= =It might mean a win-win for Plymouth-Canton and the parochial schools that use the service without having to hire teachers and pay full-time salaries and benefits. But the move is not good news for the Livonia district, which will have to scramble to make up any revenue lost once Plymouth-Canton goes ahead.= ="We're going to look at wherever there are opportunities," said Randy Liepa, Livonia Schools superintendent.= =Livonia is facing a $13 million deficit in its $140 million budget. The district has closed seven schools and eliminated 400 jobs over the last several years. There are no easy answers to raise more revenue, he said.= ="Any idea out there has probably been explored at some time," Liepa said. "We've been implementing different things over different years, but we don't have anything out there right now that's going to be millions in savings."= = = =From The Detroit News: [] = = =

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