Archive for Tag Archives: ' reform'
Legislature + lobbyists is a match made with money
Willie Sutton reputedly said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was. Freshmen lawmakers new to the ways and means of Lansing find the same principle applies when replenishing their campaign accounts mere weeks after [...]
Learning from prison cuts in other states
(Originally published Feb. 3, 2011) When Judge Steven Alm was appointed to a Honolulu felony court in 2004, it didn’t take long before the new jurist identified what he considered a major flaw in the system: [...]
Why Snyder’s government reform plan may sound familiar
(Originally published March 22, 2011) Gov. Rick Snyder’s speech Monday aimed at reinventing local government actually reinvented (or at least reiterated) numerous reform ideas offered in recent years by the Center for Michigan and other public [...]
Redistricting: How political map-making leaves voters with uncompetitive, pre-determined elections
(Originally published Feb. 10, 2011) In the past decade, voters decided 664 races for seats in the Michigan Legislature. The majority of those races were never in question. Millions of votes didn’t really matter. Districts for [...]
Momentum builds at Capitol for teacher tenure changes
(Originally published June 21, 2011) Over the past two years, the State Tenure Commission has sided with the school district in every case where the district sought to fire a teacher specifically for poor performance in [...]
School Daze: Michigan’s incredible shrinking school year
(Originally published March 12, 2009) Imagine if the United States completely flopped in the next Olympics. Imagine if countries like Japan and South Korea dominated the medal count and it was obvious those athletes had simply [...]
Schoolchildren shuttle across SE Michigan, raising questions about funding, community identity
There's much to unpack here, but most notable is that the figures and
Schoolchildren shuttle across SE Michigan, raising questions about funding, community identity
"It's the continuing self-segregation of groups," said Booza, an assis
Fortress Grosse Pointe: In world of school choice, community says ‘stay out’
JJ, do you really have any knowledge of the Birmingham Public Schools?
Why are Michigan’s child abuse/neglect rates so high?
That the high number of abuse and neglect cases are most likely econom
Why are Michigan’s child abuse/neglect rates so high?
The trend towards increased levels of child abuse and neglect is distu