Mike Wilkinson

Some Michigan school districts have top-rated schools, along with some of the worst. If poverty doesn’t explain the gap, what does?

Bridge goes beyond district rankings to gauge the performance of elementary, middle and high schools across the state.

Bridge proudly recognizes the most overachieving districts in the state in 2014. Next Tuesday: Bridge releases its first-ever state rankings for individual schools.

The hard-working, selective school in Houghton is quietly filling industry’s need for STEM engineers.

While business and education leaders have sounded the trumpet on the need for more STEM graduates, the field can seem daunting to young students.

Gov. Snyder, business groups and state experts agree that more than $1 billion is needed to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads. If an agreement is not brokered in lame duck, the prospects of a deal diminish significantly in January.

While the Detroit region is beginning to emerge from recession, the Grand Rapids, Monroe and Benton Harbor areas posted strong GDP gains in 2013.

Woody Allen once famously said that “80 percent of success is just showing up.” But Dems would probably settle for half that as they seek to unseat an incumbent governor.

Michigan voters are being inundated with horse-race poll results showing which candidates are up or down. Before taking those results as gospel, consider the source. Bridge shows you how.

Two automated polls show a tight race, while a third that relies on live interviewers shows Snyder comfortably leading challenger Mark Schauer. What’s a partisan to believe?

Florida students, including low-income students, have risen dramatically in national academic rankings while students in Michigan are being left behind.

Since 2001, Big Ten schools have become far more selective, when measured by the ACT scores of incoming freshmen. But MSU, like most in-state schools, stayed pretty much the same.

Since 2001, OSU has seen the average ACT test scores of incoming freshmen soar faster than any Big Ten school; it now stands behind only Northwestern and UM.

Go to Bridge’s voter turnout map to see how your county turns out to vote in past primary elections

High taxes, low wages, yet the City of Detroit still drowns in debt. Here’s why the city faces long odds even after shedding bankruptcy debt.

Bankruptcy could offer an opportunity to trim taxes for the city’s beleaguered residents, who pay some of the highest income, utility and property taxes in the state.

Detroit is in the middle of the pack among the 51 international cities studied for how much of a tax burden they place on businesses.

Mayor Kilpatrick’s civic fund helped put him in prison. Gov. Snyder’s NERD fund brought only regret. But Mayor Duggan says his fund will be different.

Set a goal, control the numbers, trumpet the results. That’s been Mike Duggan’s leadership playbook for two decades. Has he pushed his luck with Detroit?