“Today, money flows toward people who also have knowledge, advanced skills and the relentless determination to find a better way. Michigan, historically, has not grown enough of this kind of talent. That kind of change will take time and an evolution of our education system.” — Ron Dzwonkowski, the fine now-retired associate editor of the […]
Phil Power
Former newspaper publisher and University of Michigan Regent Phil Power is a longtime observer of Michigan politics and economics. He is also the founder and former chairman of the Center for Michigan which publishes Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit.
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan condemns 30,000 kids to bad start
Anybody who cares about Michigan’s future should know these facts: Children learn the quickest and best from birth to age 5. Early childhood learning programs, especially for poor, minority and vulnerable kids, result in much, much better progress through school and sharply increased graduation rates. Return on investment in pre-kindergarten programs is as high as […]
Posted inPhil's Column
West Michigan gets serious about global race for talent
Anybody who still thinks Grand Rapids is a stodgy and unexciting city either hasn’t been there lately; is in need of a big attitude adjustment; or both. I got a powerful dose of the new Grand Rapids last week, when I was there for the West Michigan Policy Forum’s annual conference. The town was jumping […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Center for Michigan seeks your ideas to bolster coverage of state
When I broke into the newspaper business back in 1965, there were maybe a couple busloads of reporters working in Lansing. Today, you can count them on your fingers. Of course, this is the result of the decades-long deterioration of “mainstream media,” mostly newspapers. Information and advertising, especially, have migrated to the Web. Although newspapers are trying […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan has its education funding system backwards
One of the persistently enraging things about the workings of government is how often we see multiple disconnects between what we all know and what it does. Now that it’s back to school time, we can see these disconnects plainly. Example No. 1: It is beyond dispute that children learn the quickest and best from birth […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan needs direct action to ban paying for petition signatures
“A republic, madam, if you can keep it” — Benjamin Franklin. The story goes that Franklin, at the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, was asked, “Well, doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” His answer was perfectly relevant to the political concerns of the 18th century, a world in which […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Mining remains a big deal in Upper Peninsula
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has been a mining-oriented place ever since the 18th century, when explorers were astonished to discover enormous chunks of pure copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula, north of Houghton. The iron ore deposits uncovered west of Marquette in the 19th century were so rich that unprocessed ore was shipped directly to blast furnaces […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Teddy Roosevelt knew what Up North is worth
My family and I are observing a time-honored state tradition this week: Like thousands and thousands of Michiganders, I’m Up North with my family … in my case, way up north. Our cabin is on the south shore of Lake Superior, about an hour north of Marquette. When I got up at 6 a.m. the […]
Posted inPhil's Column
School reform push focuses on learning results, not funding buckets
They say great oaks from little acorns grow. Maybe the same thing will happen as a result of last Tuesday’s meeting in Lansing to consider how to re-work the School Aid Act into the “Michigan Education Finance Act of 2013.” The School Aid Act was originally written in 1979. It’s been amended many times since. At […]
Posted inPhil's Column
A revolution in Ann Arbor is led from the corner office
Mary Sue Coleman is a rock star college president. Since being appointed the 13th president of the University of Michigan in 2002, she has been on a tear, successfully guiding the U of M to ever-increasing stature through very difficult times. The U of M has risen in reputation to No. 18 in the entire world, […]