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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
Michigan scrambles to salvage school year in wake of coronavirus
School and legislative leaders are meeting to determine how best to continue education if the coronavirus keeps classrooms closed for months.
Coronavirus extends Michigan school closures until at least April 14
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Monday order to stay home through midnight April 13 means an extension of at least eight days to the already ordered three-week school closure.
Parents urge Michigan to change rules about online learning during coronavirus
Michigan Schools Superintendent Michael Rice set off a firestorm Friday by saying online learning during the coronavirus crisis wouldn’t count. Now, educators and parents want legislators to change the law to ensure it does.
A Michigan school bus turns food truck during coronavirus school shutdown
In one sparsely populated, vast Northern Michigan school district, school buses are delivering meals to students who otherwise might go hungry amid a three-week shutdown of the state’s schools.
Will Michigan classes stay closed, and other coronavirus impact on schools
Parents are flooding Bridge with questions about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Michigan schools. We have some answers.
Michigan schools asked to open emergency child care centers for ‘essential workers’
In the latest sign of how bad things could get, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asks schools to set up emergency child care centers for the children of “essential workers,” from doctors to grocery stockers, needed in the pandemic fight.
Michigan standardized tests may be put on ice this year due to coronavirus
State education leaders have asked for a waiver to allow Michigan schools to ditch federally mandated testing this spring, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Coronavirus sends Michigan families scrambling for child care. And more wine.
Monday marks the beginning of a three-week school closure in Michigan because of the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented crisis has parents searching for nannies, taking kids to work and throwing away rules on screen time.
Questions about Michigan coronavirus school closings? We have (some) answers
Yes, free lunches are available from a lot of Michigan schools even during the break. No, your child won’t fall behind in class work if they don’t have access to high-speed Internet at home. Will the school year be extended? There are no plans — yet.
Michigan districts make millions teaching home-schoolers karate and crafts
Michigan school districts are profiting from taxpayer-funded online academies that teach home-schoolers electives like ice skating and animal husbandry. The programs are legal, but the state is cracking down, alleging some districts are overcharging taxpayers.
Growth of nontraditional school programs costs Michigan $260M, study finds
As enrollment declines, Michigan districts are turning to two-year kindergarten programs, placing teachers in private schools and academies for home-schoolers.
Frustrated by teacher shortages, Michigan educators offer their solutions
Want to solve Michigan’s teacher shortage? A new report skips policymakers and asks the state’s teachers what they would do. More class support and financial incentives to new teachers would help, they say.
Free college sounds great. But Dems’ higher-ed plans draw scrutiny in Michigan.
From zero tuition to student loan bailouts, Democrats campaigning in Michigan’s March 10 primary are proposing big changes to higher education. Some question the feasibility of the proposals.
Preschoolers, older college students win in Whitmer education budget
Michigan’s governor proposes a big move toward universal pre-K and free training and college for adults in a budget that includes the biggest school aid increase in 20 years. State university funding? Meh.
Access to career-tech in Michigan varies by ZIP code. That’s a problem.
Low-income and minority students have less access to career-tech programs in high school than other students, according to a new study.
Michigan schools revolt: We won’t flunk struggling third-grade readers
In what amounts to a mutiny against Michigan’s “read-or-flunk” law, school districts around the state tell Bridge they don’t plan to make students repeat third grade because of poor reading scores.
Gov. Whitmer launching effort to undercut Michigan’s third-grade reading law
An estimated 5,000 students could be flagged to repeat third grade because of low reading scores. In her State of the State address, Whitmer will unveil a plan designed to help parents get around the Republican-backed law.
Students drinking less at MSU and U-M, but still more than national average
Fewer college students are binge drinking at Michigan’s two Big Ten universities. One possible reason: campaigns to correct students’ “Animal House” perceptions of their school’s drinking culture.
If you drink at college, follow these tips to avoid serious danger
Binge drinking is declining nationally as awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking increases.
Michigan offers little help for child care. That may change in 2020
A critical mass of business, political and education leaders pushes for reforms to increase child care access and affordability for low- and middle-income Michiganders.