The $24 million budget increase for literacy coaches wasn’t the biggest headline out of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget proposal, but it could have a huge impact on Michigan schools, particularly for third grade.
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 inMichigan Politics Watch
College advocate tapped by Whitmer as education adviser
Brandy Johnson, founder and executive director of the Michigan College Access Network will bring a college and career focus to the new administration, and a history of “getting stuff done.”
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Gov. Whitmer: Boost Michigan schools by $507 million, with more for neediest students
Michigan’s governor’s first budget offers a fairly radical change in how the state spends money on public school students, with questions still on where the money would come from.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Whitmer pushes college aid. But success rates vary wildly at Michigan schools
A new scholarship proposal could get more students into Michigan colleges. But which campus they go to plays a big role in whether they graduate and how much they – and the state – will benefit.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Seven things to know about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s debt-free college plan
The governor’s ambitious revamp of college aid could be a game-changer for Michigan, but the state’s poor won’t benefit much. Here’s why.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
In Tennessee, a model for Michigan’s plan for debt-free community college
If you want to know the impact Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed college aid expansion, look 500 miles south to Tennessee, where a nearly identical program has been up and running since 2014.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
More Michigan residents get college degrees, but state still trails diploma race
More than four in 10 Michigan adults have an associate’s degree or higher, the highest rate on record but still far short of what the state needs.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
The real state of Michigan education: Improving outcomes costs money
Whitmer campaigned on improving Michigan schools. Education leaders across the state offer suggestions to accomplish that goal.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
CEOs, Republicans add voices to Michigan’s child care ‘crisis’
Michigan needs workers. Workers need child care. But the cost is out of reach for many Michigan families. Will the weight of CEO’s and, increasingly, Republican lawmakers prompt the state to open its wallet?
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Four people, four reasons child care costs are a growing crisis in Michigan
Few people are happy with the affordability of child care in Michigan. Bridge profiles a parent, a child care worker, the owner of a child care center, and a CEO whose workers can’t find suitable care.