(Originally published Feb. 10, 2011) In the past decade, voters decided 664 races for seats in the Michigan Legislature. The majority of those races were never in question. Millions of votes didn’t really matter. Districts for many state representatives and senators are not competitive. Many seats are engineered for partisan advantage. A consequence is the […]
Redistricting: How political map-making leaves voters with uncompetitive, pre-determined elections
Posted inSuccess
Touting Michigan in 100% cotton
(Originally published May 4, 2011) Jon Bell got so tired of hearing friends slam Michigan as a place with no future, he started a company that promotes the state everywhere people go. Since the day he opened Michigan Awesome two years ago, the Grand Rapids native has sold 3,500 T-shirts, each with a pithy slogan […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Undiscovered Traverse City
(Originally published June 2, 2011) If you’re among the hundreds of thousands of people who get an opportunity to spend a little time each summer in Traverse City, you have probably recognized the impact of Michigan’s decade-long recession along East Grand Traverse Bay. For many years, the little community of Acme included a bustling community of […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Don't count out early education
(Originally published Feb. 3, 2011) By Susan J. Demas How’s this for a contrast? Last year, the Early Childhood Investment Corp. (ECIC) released a study showing that Michigan’s budget saves a whopping $805 million because of pre-K programs. And yet in fiscal 2010, Michigan was among the 17 states that put their programs on the […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Early childhood funds in tug of war
(Originally published April 14, 2011) In last year’s gubernatorial campaign, candidate Rick Snyder touted the importance of pre-school education and outlined a vision of integrated P-20 education from birth through graduate school. This year, Michigan early childhood advocates were pleased to see the new governor demonstrate his support with a fiscal 2012 budget proposal that […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Voters back taxes on local level
Voters across Michigan continue to show themselves willing to approve tax requests for local governments and schools, though some requests fare better than others. That’s the conclusion of a Center for Michigan analysis of May 3 tax elections around the state. More than 80 percent of the tax issues for schools and local governments gained […]
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 […]
Posted inTalent & Education
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 […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge” — British author and mathematician Bertrand Russell. * Muskegon County looks for cuts in spending. “The proposed budget anticipates $42.9 million in revenues for 2012, the lowest in at least six years and $1.3 million less than the current projection for 2011.”: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/08/muskegon_county_proposes_healt.html * In […]
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