This record group consists of two separate groupings (or subgroups) of records: the combined files of TEACH Michigan and TEACH Michigan Education Fund covering the period of 1989 to 1995, and files of the charter school support group, Michigan Center for Charter Schools covering the years 1994-1995. Both organizations operated out of the same office in Lansing and included some of the same individuals as board members. The TM/TMEF files consist in great part of papers of Dr. Paul N. DeWeese, a principal founder of the organization. The MCCS files are largely papers of executive director Barbara Barrett as well as DeWeese. Together, the record group contains correspondence, policy statements, organizational and activity files, collected materials, sound and video materials, all relating to the efforts of the two organizations first to educate and lobby for changes in the law, and second to provide assistance and support in the establishment of charter schools. The records date from the inception of the organization to 1995. The subsequent records of TEACH Michigan remain with the organization.
In 1989, Dr. Paul N. DeWeese, a physician then working in Detroit, became frustrated by what he perceived to be a lack of educational choice for his own children then about to begin school. With other like-minded individuals, DeWeese formed Michigan Citizens for Choice in Education (shortly to be renamed TEACH Michigan). Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1991, TEACH Michigan was established to lobby for changes in the law regarding school choice. Associated with TEACH Michigan was a tax-exempt sister organization - TEACH Michigan Education Fund (TMEF) - which with license to solicit charitable contributions could engage in a variety of educational, research, and planning functions.
Under DeWeese's leadership, TEACH Michigan advocated fundamental changes in the state's educational system. The core of TEACH Michigan's philosophy of education was simply stated. Parents should be allowed to choose from competing systems of schools with funding for education following the student and not automatically being given to the government-supported school system. An ambitious agenda, TEACH Michigan realized the importance of educating the public and enlisting enough grassroots support for the necessary changes in state law and in the state constitution to be made. With the law changed, there would follow competition for the education dollar resulting in non-governmental sponsorship of K-12 schools by corporations, public or private universities, parent groups or churches, as well as by the government. No longer would there be a "government monopoly" school system. Instead, parents would receive financial support (or vouchers) for their children to attend the school of their choice.
Although his message never wavered, DeWeese was realistic enough to realize that "full choice" could only come incrementally, thus his advocacy of changes in state law to allow for the creation of charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that are custom-designed by groups of teachers, parents or outside individuals to meet particular education needs. Charter schools are part of the public school system, financed on a par with other schools in the district. But for charter schools to become a reality state law would have to be changed. In December 1993, with the passage of Senate bill no. 896 (signed by the governor in January 1994), Michigan adopted the most significant restructuring of public education since the development of single-function school districts in the early 20th century. The state authorized groups of certified teachers and community leaders to form individual charter schools (public school academies) "that are to be treated like school districts" for the purposes of state education law. These "single-school school districts" could be started anywhere in the state by one or more certified teachers, a county, city, village, township, school district, community college, or state public university. Each new school would develop its own governing board, and must describe its educational goals and the standards by which its performance will be measured. Each of these academies would receive a state school aid payment for its enrolled students.
Following the passage of 896, TMEF established a sister organization, the Michigan Center for Charter Schools (MCCS), whose purpose was to promote the development of charter schools. TMEF subsidized the operation of MCCS throughout its existence. MCCS was the only organization in the state early on that was disseminating timely and accurate information about charter schools. MCCS also helped several groups move through the process of establishing a charter school. By the end of 1995, more than 60 charter school had been established with an additional 120 schools seeking charters.
In November 1994, an Ingham County circuit court judge ruled the law unconstitutional. Although the groups authorized to grant charters were government entities, the judge ruled, the day-to-day operations of schools were largely in the hands of privately elected directors and thus not directly accountable to the public. With this decision, the charter schools that had been established were left without public funding. In some cases, the schools reverted to private school status relying on tuitions and corporate donations for their support. In other cases, the state legislature, many of whose members believed that the judge's ruling would be overturned on appeal, passed emergency legislation which addressed the judge's objection to the original legislation.
In 1995, the state Board of Education contracted with the Michigan Partnership for New Education to both promote charter schools and to provide technical assistance to charter schools. The Michigan Partnership immediately asked for, and received, permission to hire the entire staff of MCCS in order to run their charter school operation. In May of 1995, MCCS ceased to operate, as its mission and staff were absorbed by the Michigan Partnership for New Education.
From its inception, TEACH Michigan knew that for real educational reform to take place from their point of view, the Michigan State Constitution (Article 8, sec. 2) would have to be revised. That provision restricted the use of public funds to government-operated schools only. With the constitution changed, TEACH Michigan hoped to secure passage of a voucher system so that parents might choose, and receive funding, for their child to attend a church-related school.
In 2000, the TEACH Michigan organization was folded into a new organization, Partnership for Learning.
