Michigan charter schools spend $1,141 less per student on instruction than traditional public schools, and $774 more per pupil on administration, according to a newly released study by professors at Michigan State Universityand the University of Utah. The study examines spending data for all charter schools and public school districts in the state, and attempts […]
Talent & Education
To prosper, Michigan must be a more educated place. Bridge will explore the challenges in education and identify policies and initiatives that address them.
Posted inTalent & Education
Knowing is half the battle
Bridge Magazine’s prime focus is to provide top-flight, in-depth journalism on key state issues. But what happens if you produce a top-flight story and few hear about it? That’s why Bridge is committed to working with allies in the news media to amplify coverage — and to getting the message out about what’s happening at bridgemi.com. Last […]
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Lightening the lead foot
I don’t know what it is with me and paying for energy, but whatever it is, I inherited it from my father. Growing up, my friends referred to our chilly winter house as “the meat locker” and knew that just because the house looked dark when they pulled into the driveway, it didn’t mean we […]
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The day I almost killed Mike Wallace
One of the last times I saw Mike Wallace, he was in my rearview mirror, back bent, pushing my car down Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor. He had a huge smile on his face. I had a look of terror on mine. It was Spring, 2003, and I was in the midst of an eight-month […]
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Is the state retreating from public education?
In coming weeks, the Michigan Legislature will finish work on Michigan’s fiscal 2013 budget — including funding out of the state’s School Aid Fund to local public schools. In today’s 42North debate, Glenn Nelson and Brit Satchwell of Ann Arbor argue that Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2013 (and 2014) budget plans continue a harmful policy of […]
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Will Michigan's universities look like Indiana's?
Doubling the number of college degrees and certifications. Cutting costs. Tracking job placement rates. Those are the latest proposals for Indiana’s public universities. Why does that matter to Michigan? Because those goals are tied to formula funding – the same type of funding now being proposed in Michigan. Indiana bases part of its funding for […]
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Do charters skim profit, or spend smarter?
When Vickie Markavitch discusses the finances of traditional public schools vs. charter schools, she starts with a table of expenses, taking care to note the figures her analysis uses come from the state Senate Fiscal Agency, a reliable, nonpartisan source. Then the superintendent of the Oakland Intermediate School District starts her rundown. The per-pupil state […]
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Arizona offers balmy climes to charter schools
If charter schools are poised to grow in Michigan, they’ve already exploded in Arizona. Neighboring California leads the nation in sheer numbers of charter schools, but Arizona has everyone beat on percentages – a quarter of Arizona’s public schools are charters, growth that accelerated after the state lifted its charter cap in 1999. “We had […]
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Back to school. And stay there.
My boss, Bridge editor Derek Melot, doesn’t have children. I get the idea if he did, they’d have run away to grandma’s by now, fleeing their father’s firmly held belief that what ails children is very simple: Not enough schoolin’. “If you want to get better at something, do you spend less time at it?” […]
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Charter schools: Different road, but still bumpy
Nearly 20 years into the experiment, public-school academies — charter schools, as they are more popularly known — would appear a rousing success. An enthusiastic Michigan Legislature, as part of a comprehensive reform package, lifted the state cap on charters late last year. The charter ranks, now at 255 schools, can start growing next year […]