Talent & Education

The group behind the petition drive intends to work with the GOP Legislature to evade a veto by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Critics say it’s another GOP effort to use public money for private schools that runs afoul of the Michigan Constitution.

Amanda Hedges-Harrison is among 22,000 people who accepted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s offer of tuition-free community college. Cost is only one reason that busy adults, many with children and jobs, don’t complete degrees.

Many Michigan students are feeling the effects of the tight labor market as schools struggle to fill a wide range of positions, from teachers to nurses to social workers.

The GOP measures blocking mask and vaccine orders are likely DOA if they reach Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Republicans say the bills give parents control over health decisions. Democrats say they ignore science.

In mid-Michigan, a health officer and a Republican who tried to talk her out of a school mandate are both under fire. His sin was calling for civility in uncivil times.

School choice advocates are battling in the courts and Legislature to get taxpayer funding for private school tuition.

Michigan’s Black teacher workforce declined 48 percent between 2005 and 2015, far outpacing overall declines in the size of the state’s educator corps, according to a new study from Michigan State University.

More than 90 percent of students flagged for retention were promoted, a study finds. Low-income and Black third-graders were more likely to be held back because of poor reading scores.

The debate pits education advocates who want independent control of their school-year calendars against tourism leaders who want to ensure families can book vacations through Labor Day.

Cases related to outbreaks are down at colleges this fall, but have risen sharply in the state’s K-12 system, where students are far less likely to be vaccinated or required to wear a mask.

Count Day stands to look different than it did in the spring, as Michigan school district leaders worry they will lose funding for students who are in quarantine.

The leader of one of the top public universities in the nation has had some ups and downs in eight years at the helm.

Three weeks into the school year, Detroit Public Schools Community District officials still are fielding complaints from parents about its new virtual school.

Experts attribute the rise to more students in classrooms, fewer masks and a more contagious delta variant, sending infections up in Michigan classrooms.

Teacher training could soon include instruction on recognizing signs of mental struggles. Advocates say these skills are more needed than ever given the added strain the pandemic placed on children and adolescents.

Detroit schools are essentially barred from raising their own funds to repair deteriorated buildings, which would cost about $1.5 billion. Now, federal support may enable leaders to do what a series of state-appointed managers could not — rebuild Detroit’s schools.

Changing policies to report fewer outbreaks in Michigan schools won’t reduce infections among kids, but it will provide less information to worried parents.

A new state audit on Michigan’s cyber charter schools raises questions about whether students are participating in the classes in which they’re enrolled, and whether they’re receiving the required hours of instruction.

Families are pulling their kids out of class and moving to neighboring districts as they shop for schools that match the face mask policies they prefer.

A GOP House bill takes aim at critical race theory; the notion that the legacies of slavery and racism are baked into the nation’s laws and many of its institutions. Opponents contend such measures are an effort to prevent honest classroom discussion about race.