As Michigan pushes for pre-K expansion, schools build new early childhood hubs.
Child care in Michigan
Stories about what happens to kids with care before kindergarten begins.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | We can’t afford to balance budget on backs of child care small businesses
Enrollment-based reimbursement provides the stability child-care providers need to operate. Attendance-based reimbursement does not. No other small business is expected to reserve capacity for a customer while absorbing financial losses every time that customer is absent.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | A blueprint to expand child care for Michigan families, providers, employers
Affordability is only part of the challenge. Michigan also faces a significant shortage of available child care. We urge Senators Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters to support the bipartisan Child Care Modernization Act, which would create new grants to expand supply and capacity.
Posted inTalent & Education
Attracting Michigan preschoolers, teachers with free housing, other innovations
A shortage of early childhood educators and the lack of child care options in some areas have inspired innovative solutions in Michigan. They include a free housing program in Battle Creek and converting space in a Grand Rapids transit facility into a child-care center.
Posted inTalent & Education
Gov. Whitmer has vowed to boost literacy in Michigan. Here’s where we stand
As Michigan struggles with reading on national rankings, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the state must focus on literacy. What to know.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan’s PreK for All program helps our state’s small businesses thrive
Every parent deserves the opportunity to work, every child deserves the support to learn and grow, and Michigan’s small business community depends on a strong, resilient workforce.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan tests expanding free ‘pre-K for all’ to home child-care providers
A new program tests no-cost pre-K in home child care settings. Up until now, students had to attend a school or child care center to qualify for the free option.
Posted inMichigan Government
Small grants made a big difference in rural Michigan. Then the money stopped
Rural Readiness grants helped kickstart projects to address housing, health and child care shortages until state funding dried up. Their future remains uncertain in a tight budget.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan synagogue attack: FBI investigating as ‘targeted act of violence’
The suspect is dead and no congregants were injured after an attacker drove a vehicle into a metro Detroit synagogue and was confronted by security officers on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.
Posted inTalent & Education
New Michigan program aims to train, retain more early childhood teachers
Finding and keeping enough child care workers is a challenge. A new state-funded effort aims to raise wages, train workers and keep them in Michigan classrooms.