School leaders including new state Superintendent Michael Rice say time and money are needed to reduce growth of long-term substitutes, following Bridge Magazine investigation.
Mike Wilkinson
Mike has been a reporter for Bridge Michigan since 2013 and focuses on data-assisted reporting, often finding stories by analyzing maps and data sets and has created Bridge's dashboards on COVID-19, the state's economy and Michigan's elections. He held similar positions at The Detroit News and The Blade of Toledo. A native of Michigan, Mike grew up in Macomb County, graduated from the University of Michigan and started his reporting career in New Baltimore before his career took him to Illinois, Tennessee and Ohio. You can reach him at mwilkinson@bridgemi.com
Posted inTalent & Education
Alarmed by long-term subs, Detroit raised teacher pay and offered bonuses
The pay incentives, after years of cutbacks, allowed the state’s largest school district to hire hundreds of additional certified teachers, often plucking them from charter schools.
Posted inTalent & Education
Database: How many long-term subs are in your Michigan district?
The use of long-term, uncertified substitute teachers has exploded in Michigan as a teacher shortage has intensified. Search to see how many of the teachers are in your school district.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan leans on long-term substitutes as its schools struggle
In the last five years, the number of long-term substitutes taking over public classrooms has risen tenfold in Michigan. Critics say reliance on subs is an embarrassment for a state with lagging school performance.
Posted inBusiness Watch
After 10 years of steady growth, Michigan’s economy faces headwinds
Michigan’s unemployment remains low and wages are coming back. But the auto industry is transforming, and trade and talent challenges persist across the state.
Posted inMichigan Government
Stress builds as Michigan farmers are ‘hit from all directions’
Farmers across the state are battling wet fields and uncertainty over tariffs and trade as many struggle to stay in business.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan is No. 1! At getting old. That’s not good news.
Michigan has the most counties in the nation with a median age of 50 or older, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday. The implications for the economy are dire.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Whites get half of mortgages in Detroit, nation’s largest majority black city
Detroit’s mortgage market is back, but mortgages are disproportionately going to whites. Blacks are buying in suburbs instead. ‘It looks like they’ve given up’ on Detroit, one Realtor says.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan lawmakers’ pet projects get funding, new controls added
New legislation fixes minor errors so road, dam projects can move forward and funds an effort to bring a space program to northern Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Government
See how much a 45-cent Michigan gas tax might cost you
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to solve the state’s crumbling roads with a 45-cent gas tax, money that she says would fix Michigan’s woeful roads. It would cost more but, she said, also save motorists hundreds in repair costs each year.