More than 120,000 essential workers signed up for free community college tuition through the Futures for Frontliners program. The state expects to launch a similar program soon for the roughly 3 million Michigan adults over age 25 who lack a college degree.
Ron French
Ron reports on a variety of subjects across the state. Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron graduated from Purdue University. He reported for newspapers across Indiana before moving to Michigan in 1995. Ron lives in Okemos, and like the true Michigander he’s become, he now has a family cabin Up North. You can reach him at rfrench@bridgemi.com or 517-214-3636.
Posted inTalent & Education
With COVID surging, Michigan State University tells students to stay home
COVID-19 cases are dropping statewide, but at Michigan’s two biggest universities, new coronavirus concerns have led to campus clampdowns on gatherings.
Posted inTalent & Education
Facing new COVID variant, University of Michigan students asked to stay home
The variant, known as B.1.1.7., spreads faster and takes longer to detect, worrying health officials already racing to distribute a short supply of vaccines.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan schools want to skip standardized tests, blaming COVID
State Superintendent Michael Rice seeks federal permission to drop the M-STEP this year because of the pandemic, but some educators say doing so is irresponsible.
Posted inTalent & Education
Schools outraged that bars can open in Michigan, but not winter sports
From threats of lawsuits to heading across state lines to compete, high school athletes, their parents and coaches are frustrated by not being able to play while bars and restaurants can reopen.
Posted inTalent & Education
Federal COVID funding varies 100-fold across Michigan schools
Michigan school districts are relieved to get federal help to offset costs connected to the pandemic, but some question a funding formula that is creating wide disparities among school districts.
Posted inTalent & Education
Joe Biden’s $130B COVID plan may mean more tutors, summer hours in Michigan
The pandemic likely will increase achievement gaps. Michigan education advocates say schools need to start planning now for how to help struggling students, including more money for tutoring and summer school, priorities that align with the incoming Biden administration.
Posted inTalent & Education
Gov. Whitmer urges Michigan schools to offer in-class learning by March 1
Ten months after she ordered all schools to close to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said it’s time to plan for reopening classes. Recent studies show schools can remain safe with certain precautions, while there can be a heavy price for keeping children isolated.
Posted inTalent & Education
Blank screens, distracted students: Michigan teachers on COVID classrooms
Six teachers from across Michigan offered a sobering view of online instruction during the pandemic, from more students flunking classes to the deflating experience of teaching into a blank computer screen.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
‘Nobody’s coming.’ How COVID is changing everyday life in Bay City.
The coronavirus struck hard in November, closing schools, cutting off incomes and putting an end to the notion that this mid-Michigan town could somehow elude a pandemic.