As student performance in Michigan has plummeted, one strategy where many elected officials, educators, business leaders and state residents agree is bolstering future student success through early childhood programs.
Child care in Michigan
Stories about what happens to kids with care before kindergarten begins.
Posted inBusiness Bridge
Business and Lansing need to help the other to expand childcare for working parents
Michigan employers increasingly view child care as critical to attracting and keeping quality workers
Posted inBusiness Bridge
6 ways to help working parents in Michigan afford child care
Michigan’s business leaders are discovering a strong connection between affordable child care and happy, productive workers.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Kids count, but to judge from Michigan’s well-being data, not very much
The annual Kids Count Data Book shows the state is moving in the wrong direction on too many key indicators predicting a successful future. Bright spots? Some.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Child care isn’t just a parental issue. It’s a concern for employers, too.
Children need quality care while their parents work. Michigan needs their parents working. We need to do better for both.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Getting ‘rigor’ right in preschool, or avoiding rigor mortis in 4-year-olds
With all the emphasis on “return on investment” in early childhood education, let’s not forget that play, and just play, is the real way children build a foundation for the schooling to come.
Posted inChildren & Families
Michigan’s low investment in child care costs state and poor children alike
Michigan has one of the most restrictive policies in the nation on giving low-income families access to subsidized child care. Yet research shows investing in high-quality care can put more parents back to work and improves the odds for vulnerable children
Posted inTalent & Education
Putting a value on young minds
In a year when state legislators are disinclined to spend, a stunning report shows that Michigan can invest now in proven early childhood programs, or spend a great deal more later.
Posted inTalent & Education
New 2-1-1 phone program connects parents in need with local preschool enrollment offices this August
(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jonews) If you have a 4-year-old child and live in a household with low or moderate income, you are one call away from a great opportunity for your family. Michigan’s preschool program, Great Start Readiness, is a proven way to provide key social and learning skills that can greatly help young children […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Preschool funding boost praised, but there’s work to do for Michigan’s 0-3’s
By Mina Hong/Michigan’s Children and Scott Menzel/MAISA FAST START: Michigan’ new investment in preschool classes for 4-year-olds is vital, write Mina Hong and Scott Menzel, but the state still has work to do on programs for infants and toddlers. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) The Legislature recently approved an historic expansion of the […]