LANSING, MI (AP)-- The Republican-controlled state House has approved a bill that would expand a program to include more of the state's lowest-performing schools.
The legislation that passed 57-53 on a mostly partly line vote Thursday would expand the Education Achievement Authority program currently operating in 15 Detroit schools.
Schools could be under the program if they're in the bottom 5 percent of lowest-achieving schools for three straight years. The number of schools would be capped at 50.
Majority Republicans say the authority gives students at failing schools a chance of success.
Democrats say the program hasn't been in place long enough to know if it's working.
Democratic Representative Rashida Talib of Detroit says Michigan "children are not experiments and shouldn't be treated as such."
