Bridge Listens Issues Watch kicks off with virtual discussion about schools

The March 25 virtual discussion will cover what readers are telling us are the most pressing education issues facing our state
The event is permanently shifting to an evening conversation
Readers will be able to ask questions of the panelists during the discussion on Zoom

Bridge Michigan’s next monthly virtual conversation is March 25 and will focus on the state’s K-12 schools crisis, which readers in the Bridge Listens survey have identified as a top issue.

The typically lunch-hour event will permanently move to 7 p.m. to allow more readers busy to participate. In keeping with the schedule change, the event is now called Issues Watch.

Once a month, all year, the virtual events will dive into the priorities you told us matter as part of a yearlong listening effort to identify the most important issues affecting our state. We’ve received nearly 2,800 responses focusing on everything from the economy to data centers to the cost of health care. We are using that feedback to help shape our reporting and to press candidates on those issues.

The virtual series kicks off with an hourlong discussion about education moderated by education reporter Isabel Lohman and featuring readers, and reporters Ron French and Simon D. Schuster.

Michigan faces a series of challenges from test scores that are now near the back of the pack among states, as well as teacher shortages and moribund college attendance rates. The event will dissect gubernatorial candidates’ solutions and discuss unique challenges of rural schools.

Related:

Bridge has recently hosted virtual discussions about winter recreation, the collapse of whitefish in the lower Great Lakes, tourism , deer hunting, opioid settlement funds, gun violence, Michigan’s population crisis, youth mental health and industrial pollution.

How to join this live Zoom discussion

You will receive details on joining the Zoom discussion after you register with Eventbrite. On the day of the event, we will email you a reminder and link to the Zoom.

To learn more about how to join a Zoom meeting, read this. Zoom is free to use, and you can use the video call function on your computer, tablet or phone, or you can call into the meeting using the conference line function.

Member support allows us to offer engagement opportunities like this series. To regularly receive advance notification of what our nonprofit newsroom is planning and receive member-exclusive benefits — such as free Bridge event tickets, copies of our bimonthly Bridge Culture Club selections and more — become a Bridge Club member today.

We look forward to seeing you on March 25.

Thank you to our Education Watch sponsors

Bridge Michigan Education Watch is made possible by generous financial support from our sponsors. Sponsorship supports our independent journalism mission but does not constitute sponsor endorsement of individual articles or editorial content. Bridge Michigan journalism remains fact- and data-driven and independent at all times.

Please visit the About page for more information and to subscribe to Education Watch. Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact Emma Carr.