The two city districts made national news this spring by banning backpacks to prevent guns or contraband from entering schools. After a summer of reflection, they tweaked their policies and are hoping for the best.
Michigan lawmakers approved funding for public schools this year to offer free meals to all students, pre-K through 12th grade, regardless of income. Child nutrition experts are pushing to make the funding permanent.
Michigan has invested $335 million in school security since the 2021 Oxford High School shootings. Concern over shootings has yielded a gold-rush of security vendors offering schools everything from robotic dogs to bulletproof whiteboards.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed several education bills, including measures that give teachers more say in classroom assignments. She signed another measure that makes it easier for out-of-state teachers and counselors to work in Michigan.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new state education budget that expands Pre-K access, boosts per-pupil funding and invests in training new teachers. More education policy changes are coming too.
It makes sense for a single agency to coordinate policies in higher education. But Whitmer’s new department may violate the state Constitution and, as we’ve seen in Florida, there are perils when a state executive takes away power from independent institutions.
The aim is to improve educational outcomes from early childhood through after-school and postsecondary programs, with the goal of every Michigan student earning a skill certificate or degree after high school.
Roughly 750 prospective and current teachers are expected to participate in the Talent Together program as the state attempts to reinvigorate the talent pool for public school teaching positions.
In a win for Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, schools will now track the individual tribal affiliation of students, a move experts say is likely to triple the count of Native students and provide better feedback on their progress.
The state’s recently agreed-upon education budget for the new school year contains money for teacher recruitment, rural districts, Detroit schools, transportation, building upgrades and other items long sought by administrators.
The state’s decision to stop funding driver’s education and high private driver’s education costs may be contributing to many Michigan teens delaying getting their driver’s licenses.
In Democrats’ first education budget, lawmakers directed more funds to schools with disadvantaged students as the state tries to recover from pandemic learning loss. There is also more investment for English language learners and special education.
Michigan has failed children in foster care by sending them to classes in state facilities that did not provide credit toward graduation. The state must require better judicial oversight to help them fulfill their educational needs.
Flurry of Democratic legislation also includes mandatory lead testing for young children, alcohol sales inside college stadiums and reforms to prevent child abuse.
In tiny Watersmeet near the Wisconsin border, school and tribal leaders are incorporating Native language and culture into classrooms, hoping to rebuild an identity robbed from past generations.
As a board, we’re accountable to our authorizer and the state. Most of all, we’re accountable to our students and their families. When we set academic goals, we put everything in place to ensure these goals are met.
