Talent & Education

Detroit schools were once a tough sell. But by boosting starting pay above $50,000 and offering $15,000 bonuses for special education teachers, the city is attracting educators even during a statewide teacher shortage.

Even in a tough year in Michigan’s classrooms, there are lessons to be learned, says the newly crowned teacher of the year.

Early middle college is a five-year program in which students earn a high school diploma and enough college credits for an associate’s degree, for free.

The largest single donation in U.S. history to a public university will be used to support WMU’s medical school, need-based student financial aid and the WMU Bronco athletic program.

With classrooms shuttered across Detroit earlier this school year, leaders at Detroit Leadership Academy, a Brightmoor-area charter school, told neighborhood leaders that many students didn’t have a space where they could focus.

An expansion of the controversial third-grade law that recommends retention for students more than a grade level behind in reading was approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.

Instead of the usual country club bash, students at Coloma High made do Saturday with a DJ in the parking lot of a local church. “Cherish Each Moment” was the theme chosen for teens with too few moments to cherish this year.

If passed, the Republican bill could impact thousands of additional students across two grades next year. Critics say expanding the controversial law is a mistake, given the disruption to learning among all grade levels during the pandemic.

There’s high demand for the Whitmer administration’s Michigan Reconnect program, which pays tuition and some fees for residents at community colleges. It’s unclear how many will follow through to enrollment and finish their degree.

Facing a crucial post-pandemic school year, Michigan leaders are exploring ways to bolster a dwindling teacher corps, from loan forgiveness programs to boosting starting pay.

While the small Calhoun College is the first to require vaccinations, it may not be the last.

With Michigan facing a widening teacher shortage, the state superintendent suggested a rule tweak with huge ramifications: waive the 150 hours of training ex-teachers are required to take to return to classrooms.

Michigan school superintendents are 95 percent white and less than 4 percent Black. And while teachers are 77 percent female, superintendents are 77 percent male. State leaders say it’s hard to find diverse candidates. Minority leaders see other factors at work.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says there’s a ‘sense of urgency’ to reopen schools following a year of halted learning because of the pandemic.

Michigan schools must offer the annual standardized test, but, because of the pandemic, not all students have to take it. That could make the results less useful than normal.

A dinner among drivers and pre-K staffers forced quarantines just as students were set to return to school. It’s the latest example of the frustrating, sometimes futile efforts to keep Michigan schools open.

Even with most teachers vaccinated, many Michigan schools are struggling to stay open because of outbreaks among students and COVID community spread.

Michigan plans to distribute thousands of doses of the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine to public and private colleges in coming days, in hopes of immunizing students before they leave campuses as the school year ends.

Michigan schools must give the state standardized test, but fewer students might take it this year than normal. State education officials contend pandemic learning was too chaotic this year to yield an accurate portrait of student achievement.

Districts spotlighted in the audit couldn’t prove that new teachers had been assigned mentors or that teachers’ annual evaluations were based on a classroom visit — both of which are legal requirements.