Nasty comback email from MDE...

Ms. Walch:

This is the first email or correspondence I have received from you.

I am unclear as to what you are referencing in your email below when you state: “Michigan Department of Education's newly adopted standards.”  The Michigan Department of Education has not adopted any new standards for issuing day-to-day substitute teacher permits.  I am attaching the FACTS document for Michigan teacher permits for your reference.  This document outlines the requirements for the 90 semester credit hours.  It is up to date and posted on our website.  The document states:

·         Requires completion of at least 90 semester hours of satisfactory (minimum of 2.0 cumulative grade point average) credit consolidated at a regionally accredited four-year college or university.

This is based upon language in the Teacher Certification Code (http://www7.dleg.state.mi.us/orr/Files/AdminCode/980_2011-018ED_AdminCode.pdf), Rule 43, Section 1 (R 390.1143).  Teacher Certification Code holds the weight of law.

You also referenced the MCSC is a commission that oversees state employees working within state agencies and has no bearing on employment of individuals within public or private schools in Michigan.  For additional clarifying information on MCSC and its purpose, please go to:  http://michigan.gov/mdcs/0,4614,7-147-48041-23152--,00.html.

Unfortunately, we cannot (and therefore PESG) cannot accept credits earned a college or institution that is not regionally accredited.

Krista


Krista D. Ried
Supervisor of Client Services
Office of Professional Preparation Services
Michigan Department of Education
608 W. Allegan St
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-6791
riedk@mi.gov
www.michigan.gov/teachercert (Certification Information)
www.michigan.gov/mde-hq (Highly Qualified Information)
fax: 517-373-0542

"What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must be what the community wants for all its children." - John Dewey
Supporting achievement for EVERY student through a Proficiency-Based system of education.

From: LeFerna Walch [mailto:jclamb777@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 7:43 PM
To: Ried, Krista (MDE)
Subject: Hello again...

Hello again...

I think I have emailed you a couple of times...  but I haven't gotten a response to my problem.  I told you that I prefer email to phone conversations so that I can keep record of the conversation after your first response, then I didn't hear back at all. (or at least I don't see a response in my box.)

Please tell me who can help me with this problem if you cannot.

I am employed by a staffing company called PESG, Professional Educational Services Group, which I have to go through to work as a substitute teacher in the districts in my area. They must apply for our permits to substitute teach, and then we are employed by them. I am not sure how it works, all I know is that they are not operating under proper standards of the Michigan Department of Education's newly adopted standards.

PESG tells me that my college transcripts are not being accepted because my four year college is not a "regionally" accredited college...  this is old information they have been given in a "manual" supplied to them by Michigan Department of Education for the 2012-2013 season.

The problem is this...  I believe their "manual" is not up to date— keeping me from my "right to work" in this state.

Correct me if my research is wrong, but this is what I base that statement on...
Michigan’s substitute teachers are governed by the MCSC. The Michigan Civil Service Commission.  Class 924 Item 75 which tells us the following information—

The Non-Accredited Colleges and Universities that were not satisfactory has grown so fast that the MCSC offers the following guidance by the CHEA on the acceptance of degrees that meet the educational requirements for positions in the Michigan State classified services.

Degrees and transcripts (the 90 credit qualification) issued by the institutions that are accredited by an accrediting body recognized in the database maintained by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) are typically accepted.

My college,  Full Sail University is nationally accredited by the ACICS... which is on the list as being accepted by the CHEA as of Sept. 2012.  This new information has not been relayed to PESG or added to their 2012-2013 manual.  This means that I continue to be a displaced homeworker even though I have over 90 credits into a college that the Department of Education has approved for financial aid for my education.


I live in Lenawee County, and they are currently in need of more substitute teachers. I should be working now.

Please tell me what steps I need to take next to bet my certificate to teach as a substitute teacher.

We have no income other than S.S. and I was looking forward to working for PESG.

Please help in any way you can.


Thank you


LeFerna Walch

Oh... so I can work with the handicapped... but not with "normal" kids????

I am really getting upset about all this.

My employer, PESG, can employ me to work with the mentally and physically handicapped as what they call a "paraprofessional" ...  a glorified title for a teacher's assistant... but yet they won't employ me to work with "normal" children.

Is this discrimination, or what?

Letter to the Department of Civil Rights

Letter to MDCR -

I could possibly have a discrimination complaint against the Michigan Department of Education who governs my employer, PESG (Professional Educational Services Group) here in Michigan. 

Could you please guide me as to which steps I need to take?

My name is LeFerna Walch. I am 57 and my husband Roger is 72. When my husband lost work and was forced into early retirement, I was considered a displaced homeworker. I couldn't get a decent job, (a minimum wage job that offered enough hours that I could afford the gas to get there) so I went back to college. I want to be a substitute teacher in and around my county. To do this, I needed 90 college credits and at least a 2.0 GPA (which I have a 3.5) and have to go through PESG, Professional Educational Services Group, who staffs the substitute teachers in most of the school districts in my area. As soon as I had 90 credits, I got a copy of my transcripts, I took all the tests, extra child education classes, had the background check and fingerprinting only to find out that PESG says Michigan will not accept my transcripts. They tell me they have to operate under the MDE rules in their manual—of what is required for a permit to teach in Michigan schools. The manual says we must have a qualified four-year university that is "regionally" accredited... my college is "nationally" accredited, so I am being denied the right to work because my college education is not accepted in Michigan. I received financial aid from the Dept. of Education (and will owe over 60,000.00) and the fact that it is not being accepted by the Michigan Department of Education seems unfair in the least.

I did some research, as I planned to fight this. And from what I have found out, I am hoping the problem is that PESG has outdated information in their manual from the MDE and all I need is a waver of some sort to show that my college is accepted. That is if they go by the Council on Higher Education's new list of accepted colleges now being used by Michigan's Civil Service Commission.

I see that Michigan’s substitute teachers are governed by the MCSC Class 924 Item 75 which now tells us the following information—

"The Non-Accredited Colleges and Universities that were not satisfactory has grown so fast that the MCSC offers the following guidance by the CHEA on the acceptance of degrees that meet the educational requirements for positions in the Michigan State classified services."

My college,  Full Sail University is nationally accredited by the ACICS... which is on the list mentioned and accepted by the CHEA as of Sept. 2012. This is why I think this could be new information that has not been relayed to PESG or added to their 2012-2013 manual.

I wrote to PESG with my findings and they can't do anything. They have to follow the manual they've been given, but they have employed me to work as a paraprofessional, only, missing valuable time and pay as a substitute teacher.

If the oversight is not the case, then I believe I am getting unfair treatment, since The Department of Education has loaned me money for a college education that Michigan Department of Education will "not accept" according to my place of employment, PESG.  Which leaves me to ask if the Michigan Department of Education is singling out certain civil service jobs (teachers) discriminating against college students that have gone to a "for profit" college instead of a "regionally accredited" college?



If this is not discrimination. What would it be? How am I supposed to pay off my college loans if I don't have the equal opportunity to work in this state?

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

LeFerna Walch

Okay... I think this is really strange that no one will talk to me or get back to me.

People don't know how to use email. So much for a recorded conversation! So I decided to go to "Michigan Works" to see how to make a discrimination complaint against the Department of Education. They gave me a toll free number...

And it was out of order!

Why do I want to be a substitute teacher?

People ask me why I want to be a substitute teacher when it is such an underrated profession that barely pays minimum wage in most districts.

Besides the fact that I love to work with, teach and entertain children,  I am a big advocate on getting bullies out of our schools and I think the best way to bring out the bullies in a classroom is to be a substitute teacher.  Don't you remember how the substitutes were treated when you were in school? I do, and it was "the mean kids" that were the worst. So this is a great way to identify them and try to give them that special attention they need.

It is my theory, or platform, that if a substitute teacher is armed with a healthy helping of child psychology and a good "bag of tricks" (*) you could really help minimize the adult bully population by catching them while they are young.  And like myself, some of the adults today that were picked on by bullies when they were young, might have more self-esteem and in many cases less mental issues. To bully is to abuse.

L



* A "bag of tricks" is what substitute teachers use to aid them in keeping order in the classroom so they can follow the scheduled lesson the teacher had planned while they were away.

Hmmm... Why doesn't anyone want to get back to me about this?

For some reason, everyone I have contacted won't get back to me.  It can't be that I am not giving them enough information. Maybe I just haven't found the right people that can help me yet.

Please, if you can find it in your heart to help me pass around the posted letter to share, I would really appreciate it!

L

Please share this letter...

Hello,

My name is LeFerna Walch and I am a new PESG employee (Professional Education Services Group) of Michigan. They are a wonderful organization, but still governed by Michigan Department of Education (MDE) that issues them a guidance manual to go by each year.  I went through all the classes (and extras) got my background check and fingerprinting done completing all the required substitute teacher training and was waiting my first assignment as a substitute teacher when att the last minute I was told that they could not accept my college transcripts because according to the MDE because my college was a nationally accredited college instead of a "regionally" accredited college.  You can only imagine how disappointing this was. I was looking forward to working with the kids SO much... I am still working through PESG as a paraprofessional until I can get this straightened out. 

Now, it looks like I have no idea how to get my Sub Certificate except to "fight for it?"

I was hoping to find someone who can help me with this... but so far I have just gotten a lot of people scratching their heads, not getting back to me, or getting tired of me and just brushing me off. I finally contacted a lawyer and I haven't heard back from them yet, either. So I must be striking up a good point, anyway.  My main question is how can my US Government's Department of Education allow Michigan's Department of Education to refuse a $60,000.00 education that they approved for the college loans for?

So far I have found that the job of substitute teacher in Michigan is listed as a Civil Service job (Class 924 item 75) and the MDSC said it now uses the Council of Higher Education or CHEA's list of accepted college accreditation services as their new guide for accepting college accreditation.  My college, accredited by ACICS was approved and added to this list September 2012.  So this could possibly mean that the PESG manual from the Michigan Department of Education is not up to date, or unfortunately, Michigan is stopping substitute teachers from being able to benefit from their college education by not accepting the college list of accepted accreditation that other civil service jobs do? Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't this sorta sound like discrimination to you? 

I think we would have a lot more qualified people willing to substitute teach if we could fix this problem. I don't think Michigan is the only state doing this. Other colleges are not willing to transfer credits from colleges of accreditation that is not "regionally" as well. I think we are getting into politics here... which was not my intent.

My platform is actually about finding and helping the bullies in our schools. I believe that we would have a lot less bullies in school if we had less bullies in our adult world. In order to stop this we need to find them and help them when they are young, and it is my thought that since substitute teachers seem to bring the bullies out in the classrooms... with the right teaching skills, they could be the ones to help a lot of these kids... based on pride and saving face, in most cases I think the bully would be more willing to learn from a teacher when they think they won't see that teacher again. So I do plan on furthering my education in the direction of child psychology... so it was very upsetting to hear that my own state won't accept the 90 credits I have earned so far.  

Like this Youtube video says; "I want to be a substitute Teacher!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHR83Z0QMhI

If you would like to publicly comment on this, or know of anything that may help, please contact me at the following blog address-

http://peabody4america.blogspot.com/

Thank you,

LeFerna Walch

http://www.youtube.com/peabody4america
blogspot.com/peabody4america