Bill Introduced to Expand Education Achievement Authority  By:
Fay Li Email By: Fay Li Email  Lansing's Eastern High School is
in its third year of being on the list of the five percent
lowest achieving schools in the state. If the new bill is signed
into law, the Education Achievement Authority can taken over the
school if students' grades don't improve.  "We all have our
fingers crossed, this week is MME testing and we're all very
anxious for our kids to do well," said Lansing School District
Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul.  The EAA currently operates
15 schools in Detroit and the legislation calls for expanding it
to 50 schools. EAA schools are non-union and students are
grouped by ability for each subject and not traditional grades.
They also have longer schools days and a longer school year.
"We're basically just getting down to a policy that puts
students trapped in failing schools first," said sponsor of the
bill Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto.  However, Lansing School
District is still fightin