* Indiana is looking at a $500 million budget surplus. Iowa is looking at $800 million. Michigan’s Senate Fiscal Agency estimates that the state will carry about $500 million in its budget stabilization, or “rainy day,” fund into the 2013-14 fiscal year. Something to keep in mind as legislators begin budget negotiations in a couple […]
Land O Links
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: State's broken tax system favors corporations over families
By Gilda Z. Jacobs/Michigan League for Public Policy As we enter the budget-setting season in Lansing, we need to step back and ask ourselves some important questions. Does our revenue structure keep up with the times? Does it improve our education levels and at least keep our quality of life from eroding? Does it ‘pay […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Presenting Bridge’s Academic State Champs 2012
Fifty-two school districts and charter schools across the state were named 2012 Academic State Champs by Bridge Magazine by finishing in the top 10 of at least one Value-Added Matrix ranking. By finishing in the top 10, these schools were in the top 2 percent of schools in the state. The winners, ranging from small […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Which Mich. schools add most value for students?
At first blush, Godwin Heights Public Schools isn’t anything special. Only 6 percent of its juniors were considered “college ready” on their ACTs in 2012, about one-third of the state’s median rate. Fourth- and eighth-grade MEAP scores were middling, at best. On the other hand, Bloomfield Hills has the highest percentage of students deemed “college […]
Posted inTalent & Education
State Champs: See how your local district ranks
Fifty-two Michigan public school districts and charters were named Academic State Champions for the 2011-12 school year. Winners were drawn from a database created by Bridge Magazine and Public Sector Consultants of traditional public school districts and charter schools offering kindergarten through 12th-grade. The analysis ranks schools by how much value they add to students’ […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Schools in tight-knit Arab community dominate value rankings
Jazaleh Fakhreddine describes herself as born to teach. Watch her command a classroom of fourth-graders and you’ll believe it. When she wants the children’s attention, she raises her hand and folds her fingers down one by one. “She’s counting!” a boy hisses to a classmate, and the group falls silent. She speaks quietly, calmly, preparing […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Charter schools hit the extremes in academic ranking
While several charter schools are among the best in the state in outperforming academic expectations, overall, charters fare poorly in Bridge Magazine’s top-to-bottom list of Michigan schools. The analysis offers ammunition to charter advocates and critics alike; mainly though, it raises questions about why Michigan charter schools are so wildly inconsistent, even when teaching similar […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Helping teachers improve will help students learn, education group argues
Amber Arellano is the executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, Michigan’s only statewide, nonpartisan advocacy and research organization focused solely on education. Arellano has testified before legislative committees on a variety of education-related bills, and is a strong believer in using data to help gauge what works and doesn’t work in public schools. Arellano responded to […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Don’t play ‘either-or’ game on Michigan energy policy
By Mark Fisk/Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs Proposal 3 sparked a significant debate in Michigan about what alternative energy sources we could be using to create jobs, reduce our dependence on imported coal and foreign oil and improve public health by decreasing dangerous pollution in our air and water. The Proposal 3 campaign raised important issues […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Bolger backs bigger dollars for early childhood
House Speaker Jase Bolger, freshly elected to a second term to head Michigan’s House of Representatives, added his voice Wednesday to a growing coalition of political leaders in favor of increased state spending on early childhood education. “We should expand early childhood education opportunities as investments to help kids succeed. Those investments also will provide […]
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