The City of Detroit and the State of Michigan (namely, the Department of Treasury) agreed to terms Tuesday, setting forth specific milestones that must be reached and timelines that must be met in order for the City to receive a scheduled monetary distribution.

Some of the reform milestones would have to be met as early as next week, when the City would be able to receive $20 million from the state. The funds are part of the $137 million bond issue.

In order to receive this first $20 million draw, the city must have action items in place for reviews of seven city departments, approve a contract with Miller Canfield (outside counsel for reform), Milliman (pension analysis), and extend its current contract with Ernst & Young. All by November 20th.

Another $20 million would be available on December 14th under the agreement, if the city meets another list of requirements including hiring a restructuring firm, hiring a firm to review workers compensation claims, begins implementing improvements in the property tax department and develops a plan that complies with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Redevelopment requirements.

City officials had informed the Financial Advisory Board, established under the Consent Agreement entered into by the State and City, that they may run out of cash by mid-December.

Meanwhile, City of Detroit legal counsel Krystal Crittendon met with City Council members Thursday to discuss her opinion on the legal status of the Consent Agreement given the repeal of PA 4, the former Emergency Manager Act.

Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Traverse City now all rank in the top 20 cities in the U.S. for percentage of students attending charter schools. The report was issued by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Detroit, with 41 percent of its students enrolled in charter schools, ranks 2nd on the list, behind only New Orleans. This is an increase over the 37 percent measured in Detroit in 2011-2012. 76 percent of students in New Orleans are enrolled in charter schools, largely because many public schools transitioned to charter schools following the destruction of hurricane Katrina.

Flint ranked 4th on the list with 33 percent of its students in charter schools – a 1 percent increase over 2011-2012. Ninth on the list was Grand Rapids with 23 percent – up from 20 percent last year and moving into the top 10 for the first time.

Lansing and Traverse City, now 19th and 20th respectively, were not on the list last year. Lansing has 13 percent of its students in charter schools, while Traverse City has 12 percent.

Shortly after Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s special message on education in April of 2011, Lansing attorney and Chair of the Michigan Law Revision Commission, Richard McLellan, was asked to advise the Governor and to provide a roadmap for reform. PAAdvisory has learned that a large step in that direction is expected very soon with the initial draft rewrite of the School Aid Act release.

 The School Aid Act distributes the roughly $14 billion spent on K-12 education in Michigan annually.

 The draft proposal, which will be posted online for comment and input, will include two of the Governor’s basic philosophies on effective education reform. First, a funding mechanism that distributes resources based on performance, rewarding high performing schools. The current system is based on pupil count alone. Secondly, the bill will include elements of the Governor’s mantra of “any time, any space, any place, any way,” suggesting that schools need to evolve to students’ learning styles and create learning environments best-suited for the success of each individual.

The question in last week’s PAAdvisory asked if readers thought U.S. President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate will achieve more or less cooperation and compromise in the coming session. 50% of respondents indicated they thought there would be more cooperation in Washington, while 50% responded less. Go figure…

Overall October Revenue Falls The Senate Fiscal Agency’s monthly revenue report was issued Thursday and showed collections to the General Fund and School Aid Fund totaled $2.6 billion for October. This number is $71.5 million below estimates and 6.2 percent below 2011 numbers. Often viewed as a sign of economic uptick based on consumer confidence, the state’s sales tax collections were up 4.2 percent from 2011 numbers, totaling $621.1 million in October. Former Rep. Mueller Eyeing Senate Special Former State Representative Chuck Mueller is considering throwing his hat in the ring for the expected special election to replace Senator John Gleason (D-Flushing). Senator Gleason will depart the upper chamber on January 1st after being elected Genesee County Clerk and Register of Deeds. Mr. Mueller was elected to the House in 1976. October Unemployment Rate Falls The Department of Technology, Management & Budget released numbers this week showing Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped in October, the second consecutive month of decrease. The jobless rate fell to 9.1 percent, 0.2 percent lower than September and 0.8 percent lower than the October 2011 rate of 9.9 percent.