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To prosper, Michigan must be a more educated place. Bridge will explore the challenges in education and identify policies and initiatives that address them.
Articles
Report: Michigan’s most vulnerable students have limited learning options during the pandemic
The students who need in-person instruction the most are among the least likely to get it, new Michigan data shows.
Thousands fled Michigan schools in fall. Will COVID home-schoolers come back?
Michigan schools are uncertain how many students who’ve fled public schools during the pandemic will return when there is a vaccine.
‘How am I going to do this again?’: Michigan families squeezed as COVID cases skyrocket and classrooms shut down
The Troy School District in suburban Detroit shut down its in-person classrooms last week because of an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Just like that, life for the Onyx family was back to impossible.
Upper Peninsula students can’t exit COVID quarantine for football playoffs
Pickford is the reigning Division 1 eight-man football state champ, but it couldn’t beat COVID-19. School board members criticized for putting sports before student safety.
With teachers out from COVID, Michigan schools can’t keep classes open
With coronavirus cases surging across Michigan, schools are facing not only a health crisis, but a staffing crisis: There aren’t enough substitute teachers to replace classroom teachers who are infected or quarantined.
With COVID rising, Detroit closes classrooms; other districts may follow
Detroit had fought to keep its school buildings open, but the pandemic has caught up with the state’s largest district and its 51,000 students.
COVID spurs University of Michigan to close dorms, ask students to stay home
To try to head off another surge of coronavirus cases, U-M is encouraging students to stay in their hometowns next semester. The request comes as cases are skyrocketing in Michigan and nationwide.
Classroom or home? Michigan schools, families still struggle to choose
Some Michigan schools are bringing students back to classrooms, while others are preparing for possibly going virtual. No decision is easy — or permanent — during a pandemic.
Michigan revamps K-12 schools website to make comparisons easier
Michigan parents and educators who want to dive into school data now have a streamlined and updated website to use, part of Michigan’s effort to make it easier to find school information.
As more students head back, here’s what we now know (and still don’t) about schools and COVID spread
There has been no effort from the federal government to systematically track school openings and COVID outbreaks. That means we are often relying on data from those who volunteer it, and lack good information about how schools that have reopened might differ from those that have not.
After years of state oversight, commission gives financial control back to Detroit district
The Detroit Financial Review Commission voted Monday to release the Detroit Public Schools Community District from state financial oversight until the end of 2021, a crucial step in the district’s efforts to control its budget and finances.
COVID outbreaks slowing at Michigan K-12 schools, dropping at colleges
There are outbreaks in 99 Michigan school buildings, and more than 4,400 cases on college campuses. Still, there were signs the spread was slowing or receding in the past week.
Michigan Christian school shut over COVID, files ‘religious liberty’ suit
Libertas Christian School in Hudsonville says health rules infringe on its religious liberties and free speech. Health officials say two teachers tested positive for COVID-19 and the school won’t cooperate with contact tracers.
Despite rise in COVID, Michigan State to offer more classes, dorm housing
Saying coronavirus cases are the result of off-campus partying rather than classroom interaction, MSU is moving aggressively to increase in-person classes and on-campus housing beginning in January.
West Michigan schools to community: Mask up for COVID or we close down
In an unusually blunt letter expressing the limits of their ability to control COVID-19 spread, 46 school superintendents pleaded with their communities to mask-up to help keep schools open.
As COVID spreads, University of Michigan’s 31,000 undergrads ordered to stay home
In issuing the order, which runs until Election Day, local health and university officials are trying to rein in student social gatherings in an effort to flatten a spike in coronavirus cases. But, hey, football games will go on.
Why it still matters whether Michigan K-12 students contract COVID
Very few young people infected by COVID-19 become seriously ill. But public health experts say the transmission of the virus among healthy students can endanger more vulnerable Michiganders.
COVID outbreaks in Michigan schools rise 25 percent in a week
There are outbreaks in 84 Michigan schools in 31 counties, and college cases top 5,000, says a state report released Monday.
Michigan college freshman enrollment drops amid COVID. Will they return?
Michigan’s public universities and community colleges report thousands fewer college freshmen, echoing national trends. Studies show that many students who do not go directly to college never enroll.
Cheer the MSU Spartans! At home. Preferably alone. Welcome to COVID game day
College football is back. Game Day celebrations, not so much. Michigan State University’s president is discouraging fans from gathering to watch the opening game.