Elimination of the personal property tax could cost schools $548 million, according to an analysis by the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency. The state’s personal property tax isn’t really personal, but rather a tax mainly incurred by businesses for things such as commercial furniture, industrial machinery and utility equipment. Senate Bill 34, now under consideration by […]
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
'Skills gap' goes national
Via Politico.com, a new analysis is out from Bloomberg BusinessWeek on a topic familiar to Bridge readers this week — the “skills gap”: “FIRST LOOK: AMERICA OUT OF WORK – Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover, “America Isn’t Working,” looks at the skills gap among American workers. From the piece by Drake Bennett: “Even with 14 million Americans […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Welcome to Bridge
It took me 46 years, but I finally attended summer school. This summer, I studied up on the nuances of inflation-adjusted dollars, website design, employment practices, marketing and, frankly, stuff I can’t remember right now. All this led up to what you see before you: Bridge Magazine, a project of the Center for Michigan to […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Snyder’s claim fans college readiness debate
Gov. Rick Snyder has made a blunt claim about Michigan’s schools in 2011: Few of their graduates are actually ready for college work. This spring, Snyder said only 16 percent of the state’s 2010 high school graduates were college ready and that 238 schools had zero — 0 — college-ready students based on ACT benchmarks. […]
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CRC reports on what Prop A hath wrought
There’s political dynamite to be detonated in the latest report on education funding out of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. Not from CRC, mind you. As usual, the invaluable nonprofit, nonpartisan organization does what it does: tackle the numbers and details to show citizens who want to know what is actually going on with […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Momentum builds at Capitol for teacher tenure changes
(Originally published June 21, 2011) Over the past two years, the State Tenure Commission has sided with the school district in every case where the district sought to fire a teacher specifically for poor performance in the classroom. All four. And of the 32 total cases ruled on by the commission between January 2009 […]
Posted inTalent & Education
School Daze: Michigan's incredible shrinking school year
(Originally published March 12, 2009) Imagine if the United States completely flopped in the next Olympics. Imagine if countries like Japan and South Korea dominated the medal count and it was obvious those athletes had simply out-worked, out-practiced, and out-performed ours. The likely results… Public outcry. Fired coaches. Promises of a quick return to athletic […]
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School Daze II: How some districts keep 180 days a top priority
(Originally published Jan. 19, 2011) In the Milan School District, students spend more days in class than their peers in most other districts for a simple reason: district leaders have made it an important priority. In the 2008-2009 school year, Milan was one of a handful of districts that actually exceeded – by a single […]
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