Yes, Michigan has bad roads, but their quality varies widely throughout the state, according to 2018 rankings of road conditions, which may inform lawmakers’ debate about whether to raise taxes for upgrades.
Ron French
Ron French is the senior enterprise reporter at Bridge Michigan, covering a wide range of topics including rural communities, federal policy impacts, education and public health. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter, and previously reported for newspapers across Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University.
Rooted in Okemos, Ron has become a true Michigander — complete with a family cabin Up North.
Posted inTalent & Education
Dems break with Whitmer, pass small funding increase for Michigan schools
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is left out of negotiations as legislators boost budget for state $15.2 billion. The budget doubles the number of literacy coaches, but critics say the funding isn’t enough to improve test scores.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan GOP proposes 0.9% funding boost for colleges and universities
Most universities and community colleges wouldn’t get enough of a funding hike to cover inflation under the latest budget plan in the Michigan Legislature. That’s frustrating for a state already ranked 44th in the nation in per-pupil funding of higher education.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan schools would get 2.4 percent hike in GOP budget plan
Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer, who campaigned on the promise to improve Michigan’s struggling public schools, didn’t get as much as she wanted in next year’s state education budget.
Posted inTalent & Education
Is Michigan school spending up or down? Pension problems muddy the answer
The rising cost of unfunded pension liabilities is a drag on Michigan schools, according to a new report.
Posted inTalent & Education
Report: Funding cuts, high tuition spawn a cost crisis at Michigan colleges
A “perfect storm” of falling wages, state disinvestment in higher education and stingy financial aid has made Michigan a tough place for low-income college students to succeed.
Posted inTalent & Education
As Lansing debates funding, schools struggle to pay teachers, fix roofs
Amid political disagreements about school funding, Michigan’s smallest district and its most geographically expansive face common problems: Not enough money to boost disadvantaged students. And roofs that need replacing.
Posted inTalent & Education
Detroit superintendent: Parents should demand end of long-term subs
Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, center, took to Twitter over the weekend to blast the use of long-term substitute teachers to lead Michigan classrooms. And he’s doing something about it. (Bridge file photo)
Posted inTalent & Education
M-STEP shows no progress for Michigan’s struggling third-grade readers
With the state’s read-or-flunk law beginning this year, Michigan’s efforts to help young readers appear to be falling flat.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan M-STEP test scores are inching upward. See how your school compares.
Results from the state’s annual standardized test, given to students in grades 3-8, show faint signs of improvement. See how state students overall performed in the tests given last spring, and look up your own school.