A flurry of news about vaccines and boosters adds to family to-do lists as schools prepare to reopen for a new year. Bridge turned to four medical experts to help parents (and college students) sort through it.
Isabel Lohman
Isabel reports on early childhood, K-12 and higher education for Bridge Michigan. She loves visiting schools and analyzing how policies made in Lansing affect students and educators. Previously, she was the children’s issues reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. There, she reported on the state's third-largest public school district's COVID-19 response and how a community copes after losing teenagers to gun violence. Isabel grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and has also lived in Missouri, Tennessee and Belgium. Isabel moved to Ann Arbor in January 2022 where she experienced her first Michigan winter. She has a warm winter hat with a snap-on puff ball. You can reach Isabel at ilohman@bridgemi.com.
Posted inTalent & Education
As school returns, Flint and Grand Rapids rethink their backpack bans
The two city districts made national news this spring by banning backpacks to prevent guns or contraband from entering schools. After a summer of reflection, they tweaked their policies and are hoping for the best.
Posted inTalent & Education
What to know about Michigan’s universal free school meals program
Michigan lawmakers approved funding for public schools this year to offer free meals to all students, pre-K through 12th grade, regardless of income. Child nutrition experts are pushing to make the funding permanent.
Posted inTalent & Education
In Las Vegas, firms pitch mass-shooter security to schools. Does it work?
Michigan has invested $335 million in school security since the 2021 Oxford High School shootings. Concern over shootings has yielded a gold-rush of security vendors offering schools everything from robotic dogs to bulletproof whiteboards.
Posted inTalent & Education
Whitmer expands teacher union rights, critics say it sets back students
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed several education bills, including measures that give teachers more say in classroom assignments. She signed another measure that makes it easier for out-of-state teachers and counselors to work in Michigan.
Posted inTalent & Education
Whitmer signs ‘transformative’ $24.3B Michigan education budget. What to know
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new state education budget that expands Pre-K access, boosts per-pupil funding and invests in training new teachers. More education policy changes are coming too.
Posted inTalent & Education
University of Michigan-Flint is losing leader at a critical time
University of Michigan-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta will leave the school in September. The change comes as the campus is attempting to improve the long term viability of the school, work that will temporarily be paused.
Posted inTalent & Education
Gretchen Whitmer creates new Michigan education agency for pre-K to college
The aim is to improve educational outcomes from early childhood through after-school and postsecondary programs, with the goal of every Michigan student earning a skill certificate or degree after high school.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan to launch major teacher recruitment and training effort in fall
Roughly 750 prospective and current teachers are expected to participate in the Talent Together program as the state attempts to reinvigorate the talent pool for public school teaching positions.
Posted inTalent & Education
Supreme Court ends Biden student loan forgiveness: how it impacts Michigan
In rejecting the plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt, the court crushed a signature promise made by Joe Biden in the 2020 race for president. The ruling impacts more than 40 million borrowers, including over 800,000 in Michigan.
