Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. “What could be the single largest economic development project in Michigan history has been sitting there, right under our nose.” That’s the first paragraph of a column I wrote way back in 2001. In it, I advocated prompt action by Michigan leaders to make […]
Phil's Column
Phil Power is the founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan.
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Michigan has to catch tech wave transforming learning
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Reduced to essentials, here’s what happens in most American schools and universities: A “teacher” appears before a group of pupils and talks, making notes on a board or putting up images, while students take notes. Classes range in size from 20 to 30 […]
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Apply brainpower to get better results from billions spent on education
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. The education industry in Michigan is facing a coming tidal wave of change — and the landscape is going to be re-arranged. Money may seem to many to be the major issue, but it’s not. According to Gov. Rick Snyder’s message to the […]
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Detroit will not prosper without reversing population drain
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Well, well. Kevyn Orr is now firmly in the saddle as Detroit’s emergency manager. Mike Duggan’s campaign for mayor has evaporated, leaving Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon in the driver’s seat. And Bob Ficano, the current Wayne County executive, is teetering on the brink […]
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Dingell is potent reminder of true public service in this hyperpartisan era
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations. The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning. There were those who ruled in their kingdoms, and were men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, […]
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‘Sanity caucus’ shepherds preschool reform, dollars through capital gridlock
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. I’ve had a few days now to mull over the goings-on at last week’s annual Mackinac Island Policy Conference. Much of the talk on the enormous porch of the magnificent Grand Hotel was how our political system seems incapable of dealing with big subjects on […]
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On a day once called ‘Decoration,’ thoughts on what's left behind
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. As has been our custom for years, my wife, Kathy, and I take time over Memorial Day weekend to plant geraniums on my parents’ graves. The stones are black granite, with the inscriptions sand-blasted gray in a formal Roman type face. The bright-red geraniums […]
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State leaders navigating a route to new dollars for roads
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Finding money to fix our crumbling roads has been by far the biggest (ahem) roadblock in Lansing for many months. Although nobody’s willing to come out and say so publicly, within the last few days a structure has emerged for getting the estimated $1.2 […]
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Critics of ‘Common Core’ school standards are worried about politics, not learning
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Michigan was one of 45 states which adopted “Common Core” standards back in 2010. The standards are aimed at setting out the kinds of skills that will qualify kids to successfully meet 21st century challenges, both in post-secondary education and fulfilling careers. There are […]
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A few words of (hopefully) wisdom for Michigan’s graduates
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. It’s graduation season – and last Friday, I had the honor of giving a commencement address to those earning economics degrees at the University of Michigan. There’s an old joke that plagiarism is when you steal from one author; research is when you use […]