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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.
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Articles
Tiny school districts to Lansing: Stop acting like ‘middle-schoolers’
Superintendents in some of Michigan’s most isolated districts blame Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Repubican leaders for a budget fight that they say threatens their future and treats students like political pawns.
Fewer students, tepid state funding roil Michigan public universities
Meager funding, lower birth rates and a skeptical public are forcing several Michigan universities to adjust to a world with fewer degree options, larger classes and tighter budgets.
Majority of Michigan public schools started school year short on teachers
A survey of superintendents confirms a teacher shortage forcing schools to turn to less-qualified long-term substitutes.
How four Detroit students hope to make it through the first year of college
Detroit graduates must navigate patchy academic preparation, culture shock, and often their own shaken confidence if they are to stay enrolled and on track to earn a degree that is their best chance to jump into the middle class as adults.
Dems break with Whitmer, pass small funding increase for Michigan schools
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is left out of negotiations as legislators boost budget for state $15.2 billion. The budget doubles the number of literacy coaches, but critics say the funding isn’t enough to improve test scores.
As Detroit schools rebuild, a veteran and aviation academy show a way forward
Backers of Davis Aerospace Technical Academy refused to allow Detroit to shut one of the only high schools in the nation to train aviation mechanics. Their success suggests a disconnect between Detroiters and their schools is beginning to mend.
As Michigan schools ban cellphones, reports surface of ‘talking,’ ‘eye contact’
Studies are increasingly drawing links between heavy student cellphone use and anxiety and lower achievement. In one suburban Grand Rapids district, a phone ban may be spawning something else ... conversation.
Michigan GOP proposes 0.9% funding boost for colleges and universities
Most universities and community colleges wouldn’t get enough of a funding hike to cover inflation under the latest budget plan in the Michigan Legislature. That’s frustrating for a state already ranked 44th in the nation in per-pupil funding of higher education.
Michigan schools would get 2.4 percent hike in GOP budget plan
Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer, who campaigned on the promise to improve Michigan’s struggling public schools, didn’t get as much as she wanted in next year’s state education budget.
Is Michigan school spending up or down? Pension problems muddy the answer
The rising cost of unfunded pension liabilities is a drag on Michigan schools, according to a new report.
Report: Funding cuts, high tuition spawn a cost crisis at Michigan colleges
A “perfect storm” of falling wages, state disinvestment in higher education and stingy financial aid has made Michigan a tough place for low-income college students to succeed.
As Lansing debates funding, schools struggle to pay teachers, fix roofs
Amid political disagreements about school funding, Michigan’s smallest district and its most geographically expansive face common problems: Not enough money to boost disadvantaged students. And roofs that need replacing.
Michigan teachers: Flunking won’t help kids read. We have better ideas.
Bridge spoke with 29 Michigan teachers in a Facebook group about the read or flunk law that hits third-graders this year. They’re dubious the law will improve literacy but have plenty of other ideas.
Detroit superintendent: Parents should demand end of long-term subs
Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, center, took to Twitter over the weekend to blast the use of long-term substitute teachers to lead Michigan classrooms. And he’s doing something about it. (Bridge file photo)
Detroit district test scores gain on Michigan’s, but there’s a long way to go
Taken at face value, the M-STEP results leave plenty of room for concern. But figures are up significantly from last year, and individual Detroit schools made double-digit point gains, in some cases exceeding the state average.
M-STEP shows no progress for Michigan’s struggling third-grade readers
With the state’s read-or-flunk law beginning this year, Michigan’s efforts to help young readers appear to be falling flat.
Michigan M-STEP test scores are inching upward. See how your school compares.
Results from the state’s annual standardized test, given to students in grades 3-8, show faint signs of improvement. See how state students overall performed in the tests given last spring, and look up your own school.
Benton Harbor schools may be open for now, but test scores are the pits
The good news is Benton Harbor High will remain open this year despite threats by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to close it. The bad news is its test scores are among the state’s worst.
Database: See how your Michigan school scored on M-STEP test
Use this database to check out how many students tested as proficient on Michigan’s M-STEP tests.
Taught by substitute teachers, Michigan students relied on YouTube for lessons
The Universal Academy in Detroit received notoriety in June when a video went viral of the co-salutatorians criticizing the value of their education. Concerns over schools’ reliance on subs remain.