The Michigan Department of Education is asking for volunteers to figure out how controversial proposed changes to the state’s social studies standards should be changed, or not.
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 Education Watch
A final meeting, and Michigan’s social studies standards head for a rewrite
No gay rights. No Roe v. Wade. No Climate Change. That could change, after the Michigan Department of Education was inundated with complaints about social studies revisions for K-12 students.
Posted inMichigan Truth Squad
Truth Squad: Republicans attack Dana Nessel for firm’s defense on sex crimes
A TV ad blasts the Democratic attorney general candidate for her former law firm’s defense of accused child sex offenders, and ties her to Weinstein, Cosby and Nassar for good measure.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Muskegon kids struggle to read. Their superintendent had the same problem.
Muskegon Superintendent Justin Jennings read at a third-grade level when he entered college. So he knows the challenges schools face as they prepare for Michigan’s third-grade “read or flunk” law.
Posted inMichigan Truth Squad
Truth Squad | Bill Schuette goes low, accusing Whitmer of terror sympathy
Why talk about Michigan potholes when you can attack your opponent about Middle East terrorism? Bill Schuette goes for the jugular, and earns a misleading rating from Truth Squad
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Michigan is failing its students, as state test scores keep tanking
M-STEP results show 1-in-3 third-graders are not proficient in reading. The bad news extends across grades and subjects, impacting white, black and Hispanic students. What should state do now?
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Database: Check out your Michigan school and district M-STEP scores
See how students in your schools performed in reading language arts, math and other subjects this past school year
Posted inChildren & Families
Child care for this baby costs more than the University of Michigan
Politicians have plenty to say about college costs. Yet child care expenses can have a bigger impact for many families and businesses. And Michigan has done little to help middle-and-low-income parents.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Yes, you can pay rural Michigan college grads to come home
Tired of seeing their best and brightest head to college never to return, three Michigan counties offer to pay up to $15,000 of student debt for grads who come back for jobs. Counties in other states are taking notice.
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Next hurdle for Michigan redistricting backers: ballot language
The description of a proposal can be no longer than 100 words on November’s ballot. Those words can clarify, confuse, anger or motivate voters. The battle over Michigan’s redistricting proposal is about to start.
