State education leaders have asked for a waiver to allow Michigan schools to ditch federally mandated testing this spring, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Michigan K-12 schools
Posted inTalent & Education
Coronavirus sends Michigan families scrambling for child care. And more wine.
Monday marks the beginning of a three-week school closure in Michigan because of the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented crisis has parents searching for nannies, taking kids to work and throwing away rules on screen time.
Posted inTalent & Education
Questions about Michigan coronavirus school closings? We have (some) answers
Yes, free lunches are available from a lot of Michigan schools even during the break. No, your child won’t fall behind in class work if they don’t have access to high-speed Internet at home. Will the school year be extended? There are no plans — yet.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan districts make millions teaching home-schoolers karate and crafts
Michigan school districts are profiting from taxpayer-funded online academies that teach home-schoolers electives like ice skating and animal husbandry. The programs are legal, but the state is cracking down, alleging some districts are overcharging taxpayers.
Posted inTalent & Education
Growth of nontraditional school programs costs Michigan $260M, study finds
As enrollment declines, Michigan districts are turning to two-year kindergarten programs, placing teachers in private schools and academies for home-schoolers.
Posted inTalent & Education
Frustrated by teacher shortages, Michigan educators offer their solutions
Want to solve Michigan’s teacher shortage? A new report skips policymakers and asks the state’s teachers what they would do. More class support and financial incentives to new teachers would help, they say.
Posted inTalent & Education
Preschoolers, older college students win in Whitmer education budget
Michigan’s governor proposes a big move toward universal pre-K and free training and college for adults in a budget that includes the biggest school aid increase in 20 years. State university funding? Meh.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan schools revolt: We won’t flunk struggling third-grade readers
In what amounts to a mutiny against Michigan’s “read-or-flunk” law, school districts around the state tell Bridge they don’t plan to make students repeat third grade because of poor reading scores.
Posted inTalent & Education
Gov. Whitmer launching effort to undercut Michigan’s third-grade reading law
An estimated 5,000 students could be flagged to repeat third grade because of low reading scores. In her State of the State address, Whitmer will unveil a plan designed to help parents get around the Republican-backed law.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan offers little help for child care. That may change in 2020
A critical mass of business, political and education leaders pushes for reforms to increase child care access and affordability for low- and middle-income Michiganders.