Nearly 500 people convened in Lansing Tuesday to listen to and question education leaders and experts about the findings in the Center for Michigan’s new report, “The Public’s Agenda for Public Education.” While audience members had plenty of information to chew on from the three panels – on early childhood, teacher preparation and accountability and current […]
Bridge Staff
Bridge’s mission is to inform Michigan citizens about their state, amplify their views and explore the challenges of our civic life.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: New thinking needed on schools
By Peter B. Ruddell/Wiener Associates The recent series of articles and the report “The Public’s Agenda for Public Education” confirm the policy direction being advanced by the Michigan Public Education Finance Project (“the Project”). Contrary to simplistic analysis portrayed in the article “Online ed expansion, school choice plan murky in 2013”, the Project has far […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Another perspective on ranking ‘valuable’ schools
By Jeff Padden/Public Policy Associates Bridge Magazine published an analysis of the Value-Added Matrix scores for 560 school districts in Michigan, including 52 charter schools and 508 traditional public schools. The VAM scores attempt to correct for differences among the student bodies in schools by looking at the socioeconomic condition of the district, a factor […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Snyder is right to invest in expanded early childhood programs
By Doug Luciani and Debbie Dingell/Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan As a former venture capitalist, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder knows much about how to calculate return on investment. Today, we applaud him for seeing the ROI in young children. In his State of the State Address, Snyder acknowledged Michigan has 29,000 4-year-olds eligible for public […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Science ed in Detroit has too high a price
By Kurt Metzger/Data Driven Detroit Detroit area businessman and philanthropist Dexter Ferry founded the Detroit Science Center in 1970. In 1978, the DSC moved to its current facility in Midtown at the corner of John R and Warren, adjacent to the Detroit Institute of Arts and Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: State's broken tax system favors corporations over families
By Gilda Z. Jacobs/Michigan League for Public Policy As we enter the budget-setting season in Lansing, we need to step back and ask ourselves some important questions. Does our revenue structure keep up with the times? Does it improve our education levels and at least keep our quality of life from eroding? Does it ‘pay […]
Posted inTalent & Education
State Champs: See how your local district ranks
Fifty-two Michigan public school districts and charters were named Academic State Champions for the 2011-12 school year. Winners were drawn from a database created by Bridge Magazine and Public Sector Consultants of traditional public school districts and charter schools offering kindergarten through 12th-grade. The analysis ranks schools by how much value they add to students’ […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Helping teachers improve will help students learn, education group argues
Amber Arellano is the executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, Michigan’s only statewide, nonpartisan advocacy and research organization focused solely on education. Arellano has testified before legislative committees on a variety of education-related bills, and is a strong believer in using data to help gauge what works and doesn’t work in public schools. Arellano responded to […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Don’t play ‘either-or’ game on Michigan energy policy
By Mark Fisk/Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs Proposal 3 sparked a significant debate in Michigan about what alternative energy sources we could be using to create jobs, reduce our dependence on imported coal and foreign oil and improve public health by decreasing dangerous pollution in our air and water. The Proposal 3 campaign raised important issues […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Right to Work is no guarantee of economic success
By Timothy J. Bartik/W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Will “Right to Work” boost Michigan’s economic development? What does research say? Research suggests that the economic development effects of RTW are uncertain, with downside risks. Some studies find RTW boosts job growth, while other studies do not. Some studies find RTW reduces wages, while other […]
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