Michigan teachers will no longer be evaluated based on student test scores under legislation being prepared by Democratic leaders. Critics say the current system should be tweaked, not scrapped.
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
Ballmer and Wilson groups give $30M to metro Detroit community colleges
What can $30 million do to help Southeast Michigan residents? Two philanthropy groups are hoping it will increase college access and graduation and strengthen ties to local employers.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan State to raise room and board; still won’t release Nassar docs
First-year MSU students will have to pay nearly 7 percent more for dorm rooms and meals than current first-year students, based on rising food and energy costs. MSU continues to withhold records on serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar, citing attorney-client privilege.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan State University hires firm to review mass shooting response
An Ohio firm will assess MSU’s response to a campus shooting that killed three students. The deal will cost about $194,000.
Posted inTalent & Education
Dexter schools sue social media giants, citing child mental health crisis
Dexter is one of a number of districts joining a federal suit against the developers of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, YouTube and others, contending their ‘addictive’ algorithms target vulnerable children and teens.
Posted inTalent & Education
Judge declines to order University of Michigan grad students back to work
As University of Michigan nears the end of the semester, it has argued a graduate student worker strike is causing irreparable harm. A Washtenaw County judge disagreed Monday afternoon.
Posted inTalent & Education
What Biden proposal on transgender school athletes means to Michigan
Across the country, some states are banning transgender athletes from participating in sport teams that are consistent with their gender identity. Some states face court battles and a new Biden proposal could add further questions in the ongoing debate over transgender athletes.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan library book bans: lessons from a federal Texas case
Across the country, school and library officials face calls to remove books, many with LGBTQ or racial themes. But last week, a federal judge told a Texas library to reverse its ban. Could it be a road map for free-speech advocates in Michigan?
Posted inTalent & Education
U-M grad student worker strike continues; judge won’t end walkout
A judge says the University of Michigan has yet to prove it is sustaining ‘irreparable harm’ from a strike over pay that began last week.
Posted inTalent & Education
University of Michigan sues graduate union over strike, bargaining continues
Tensions continue to escalate between the University of Michigan and its graduate student workers. The university filed a complaint Thursday asking a court to order striking graduate students back to work.