You probably didn’t know this about Michigan’s public universities: * The University of Michigan’s 90 percent graduation rate is 22 percentage points higher than the average at peer institutions. * Michigan State University’s 126-1 student-to-administrative staff ratio is nearly twice as high as peer institutions. * Central Michigan University’s state aid of $3,699 per student is just slightly […]
Chris Andrews
A guest author for Bridge Magazine.
Posted inTalent & Education
How does Michigan rank on school spending?
Michigan will spend about $13 billion on K-12 education this year – the single largest use of state revenue. And how those sums will get spent next year and beyond will consume a considerable amount of attention at the Capitol, where views on running schools can be deeply divided. In April 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Snyder’s call for early childhood funds draws applause from advocacy groups, legislators
Thousands of low-and moderate-income children took a step closer to the preschool classroom with Wednesday night’s call for additional early childhood investment by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in his State of the State address. Snyder noted that 29,000 children are eligible for the state’s Great Start Readiness Program, but can’t get in because there aren’t […]
Posted inSuccess
Putting college in reach for Michigan foster children
Western Michigan University sophomore Nikki Jenks is intent on beating the odds. Young people who spend years in foster care, as she did, are unlikely to make it to college, let alone graduate. Jenks bounced from home to home, peninsula to peninsula, school to school, and relative to stranger. At one point, she thought a […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Next time, a tougher road to the ballot?
Looking to change Michigan’s Constitution? Reaching the ballot is as easy as $1-$2-$3 if you’ve got a big enough checkbook. Collecting 322,609 valid petition signatures (10 percent of the votes in the 2010 gubernatorial election) for grassroots groups who might want to, say, create a nonpartisan legislative redistricting process, would be an imposing challenge. But […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Voting can be tricky business in Michigan
The citizenship check box that many voters saw on Michigan voting forms for the first time in the August primary resulted in confusion and controversy. Election workers weren’t sure whether voters were required to fill it out. In some cases, noncompliant voters were turned away. So were a couple of noncitizens preparing to cast ballots, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Drug courts a win-win for users, taxpayers
Judge William Schma retired from the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court bench in 2006. Six years later, he still runs into people whose lives turned around thanks to his drug court. Repeatedly. “I just got a call from someone graduating from the humanities program at Western Michigan University who wants me to come to graduation,” said […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan lags on ethics, lobbying, campaign rules
If Michigan lawmakers are serious about cluing the public in on the money being spent to win elections and influence policy-makers, there are plenty of places to look for guidance. Fifty states have crafted 50 systems, which vary substantially. Oregon, for example, is exceptionally strong in making sure that all campaign donations and spending are […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Guest post: Detroiter pushs private promise
Dr. Nat Pernick wants folks to know there is already a Detroit Promise scholarship program. Pernick created the Detroit College Promise and has been awarding scholarships for the past four years to Detroit Public School graduates who live in the school district and have signed up by ninth grade. The amount of the scholarships depends […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Kalamazoo gains strength from Promise
Jasmine Granville learned about the Kalamazoo Promise riding the bus back from a basketball game at Battle Creek Central. “I don’t remember if they played it on the radio, or people were calling people,” she said. “I remember a bunch of the seniors were just bawling their eyes out.” As a freshman at Kalamazoo Central […]