Michigan’s newly crowned Teacher of the Year is passionate about helping children, and he thinks it would help them to stay home this fall to lower the risks of the coronavirus.

Watch the recording of Tuesday’s Bridge reader discussion and learn the topic of August’s reader chat.

Michigan districts are up against it to decide fall plans, and officials are worried that some will poach neighboring students. Superintendent Mike Rice wants to avoid that by freezing enrollment counts that are used to determine funding.

Michigan schools are likely to get less money in the coming state budget due to the economic crisis caused by coronavirus. One group urges lawmakers to make those cuts with a scalpel rather than an ax.

Black students drop out of Michigan colleges at a much higher rate than their white classmates. That graduation gap is third-worst in the country.

Large numbers in the U.S., especially African Americans with an eye on history, say they’re wary of a COVID-19 vaccine. Public health leaders say much work is needed to develop public confidence in the safety of a vaccine.

Grand Rapids joins Ann Arbor, Lansing and other large districts in planning to begin this fall with remote learning in all grades. A Republican bill, if passed, would threaten those districts with loss of state funds.

New state data and reports from county medical examiners show a rise in opioid-related overdoses and deaths in parts of Michigan, which was likely fueled by the isolation and anxiety of the pandemic.

Michigan Republicans claim Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies are partially to blame for 2,000 nursing home deaths. But new data show the state is far from alone in failing to protect its most vulnerable from the virus, as states like Florida once heralded for its policies are seeing dramatic spikes.

Anyone can vote absentee for any reason and you can register to vote up to and on Election Day.

A decade since oil spewed into the Kalamazoo River from Enbridge’s Line 6B, the cleanup effort is ending. But the spill’s legacy lives on in the debate it sparked over Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

Thirty jobs created during the COVID-19 pandemic is one sign that Reed City Group’s diversification into medical equipment is paying off.