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 […]
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
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 […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Schools take tax repeal personally
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 […]
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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