When Averil Dixon was a senior at Mumford High School in Detroit, the only people who knew he couldn’t read or write were his family, a few teachers and his closest friends — the ones who helped with his homework. “I was a cool kid,” said Dixon, 19. “If everybody knew I couldn’t spell or […]
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
Report: Michigan is high on price of college degrees
College graduates in Michigan and elsewhere are rightly anxious about their future job prospects — an anxiety only heightened by the piles of debt so many have accumulated while on campus. Erin Dillon, senior policy analyst for Education Sector and co-author of a new report highlighting the relationship between obtaining a college degree and acquiring […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Who are the state academic champs?
Welcome to the real state high school playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, I love sports, and I have great admiration for the dedication and skill of high school athletes. The lessons they learn in leadership, teamwork and persistence are lessons they can use long after they hang up their helmets. But if Michigan is going […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Invest in the 4-year-olds
Bridge Magazine’s parent organization, the Center for Michigan, takes quite seriously the challenge presented by the educational needs of the youngest Michiganians. It is a member of the Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan, which just helped organize two hearings (Sept. 28 and Oct. 5) before the House Education Committee. Tim Bartik of the Upjohn Institute […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Affirmative action ban exacted price on economy, say critics
Five years after Michigan voted to ban affirmative action by public entities, anecdotes, experts and a handful of hard numbers suggest Michigan’s economy has absorbed hits due to the measure. Proposal 2 — a 2006 initiative which banned race- and gender-based preferential treatment in public contracting, public hiring and university admissions — is back in […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Obama's job advisers note skill mismatch
President Obama has a new report from his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. (Alert, it’s a 4MB report). Initiative Five in the report will be familiar to Bridge readers: Matching talent to the skills needed in the marketplace. “While the United States has traditionally enjoyed a competitive advantage thanks to the productivity of its overall […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Passion still drives Detroit educators
Half of new teachers in urban school districts leave within the first three years, reports the advocacy group Urban Teacher Residency United. Much can be learned by understanding what pushes professionals out of urban classrooms. But what about the other half — the 50 percent who stay? Why do they remain in beleaguered urban school […]
Posted inTalent & Education
How much investment on early childhood is 'legal?'
Early childhood programs were largely protected during Michigan’s budget battles this year, even though advocates such as Michigan Children’s Jack Kresnak believe EC remains at risk. The House Education Committee has been holding hearings on early childhood education in Lansing in recent weeks. A policy battle raging 1,000 miles away, however, may have a bearing […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Earned a college degree; got a pizza box
Last Monday evening, a professional career counselor in Plymouth named Jim Danielski received this email: “Mr. Danielski: I am trying to assist my college graduate son in his pursuit of a job. He graduated in 2010 with a degree in Political Science. He really didn’t have a plan of where that would lead him for […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Why is affirmative action divisive?
Later this year, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will revisit Proposal 2, which, as of now, bans affirmative action as a point of entry into colleges and universities. What that means is race and gender are no longer points of consideration in the admission process. We all know that being accepted into a […]
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