By AP
LANSING, MI –
An organization that supports eliminating or limiting the significance of teacher tenure reports spending nearly $900,000 on advertising in Michigan during the first seven months of 2011.
The StudentsFirst spending was highlighted in a report based on state statistics Wednesday from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
The national group advertised in Michigan this year as lawmakers made changes to the state's teacher tenure system. Changes that will make teacher performance the key factor in awarding tenure and deciding layoffs instead of seniority were signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder in July.
StudentsFirst reported the most lobbying-related spending of any group in Michigan for the first part of 2011, but 95 percent of it was advertising.
The campaign finance network says advertising reporting is "uneven" and not always clearly reported.