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Archive for Phil’s Column

State leaders navigating a route to new dollars for roads

State leaders navigating a route to new dollars for roads

Finding money to fix our crumbling roads has been by far the biggest (ahem) roadblock in Lansing for many months. Although nobody’s willing to come out and say so publicly, within the last few days a [...]

Critics of ‘Common Core’ school standards are worried about politics, not learning

Critics of ‘Common Core’ school standards are worried about politics, not learning

Michigan was one of 45 states which adopted “Common Core” standards back in 2010. The standards are aimed at setting out the kinds of skills that will qualify kids to successfully meet 21st century challenges, both [...]

A few words of (hopefully) wisdom for Michigan’s graduates

A few words of (hopefully) wisdom for Michigan’s graduates

It’s graduation season – and last Friday, I had the honor of giving a commencement address to those earning economics degrees at the University of Michigan. There’s an old joke that plagiarism is when you steal [...]

Schools, colleges aren’t preparing students for careers in Michigan

Schools, colleges aren’t preparing students for careers in Michigan

Paul Hillegonds, who these days is a vice president at DTE Energy, is one of Michigan’s most plugged-in and thoughtful people. Whenever something valuable and useful is going on in our state, Paul, a former speaker [...]

Philanthropic groups step up to lead Michigan’s urban revival

Philanthropic groups step up to lead Michigan’s urban revival

There’s no doubt that one of Michigan’s biggest stories this year is Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to put Detroit under an emergency manager, and put attorney Keyvn Orr in that post. But Detroit is far from [...]

Change the school focus from spending more to spending smart

Change the school focus from spending more to spending smart

Can anything really move the “needle of achievement” in our kids’ schools? Over the years, we’ve sure spent a whale of a lot of money, time and lung power trying to answer that question. “School people” [...]