Early childhood is the time when a good education can make the most difference. Yet it’s where we invest the least. That needs to change.
Michigan school opinions
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan Teacher of the Year: 5 ways to motivate students
Math teacher Luke Wilcox disputes the notion that it isn’t a teacher’s job to motivate students. He offers his top strategies for motivating students to care.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion: Clueless Betsy DeVos has defender-in-chief in Bill Schuette
Michigan’s attorney general continues to defend the charter schools champion, long after the rest of Michigan realized her policies were destructive.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | A Valentine’s Day in which children actually come last
Our lack of concern for children begins far earlier than their exposure to gunfire by intruders with assault weapons.
Posted inGuest Commentary
America is doing great job in creating low-skill workers
(Bridge archive photo/Sam Zomer) If you wanted to create a system that limits educational options and consigns the vast majority of poor American children to continue to live in poverty, just look around you. Whether you live in urban or rural America, the results of an educational design which cripples young learners who are […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Keep world-class standards for Michigan learners
By Doug Rothwell/Business Leaders for Michigan Business Leaders for Michigan supports continued use of the Common Core State Standards in Michigan, writes Doug Rothwell. (courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) This year, Michigan public schools began using the kind of high-quality content standards that our kids need to be competitive in the 21st century. Used […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: In Detroit, put the value of early learning to work for all children
By Katherine Foran/Excellent Schools Detroit (courtesy photo/Excellent Schools Detroit) “We are consumed by issues of remediation,” Dan Varner, CEO of Excellent Schools Detroit, observed. We struggle with costly “fixes,” targeting academic failure, high dropout rates, unemployment, low wages, higher substance abuse and incarceration rates, poorer health outcomes and diminished opportunities that too often spill over […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Why do EAA critics want children trapped in failing schools?
By John William Covington/Education Achievement Authority Rep. Ellen Lipton’s comments about the Education Achievement Authority are an example of the way so much of the educational establishment and their political allies are trying to kill an innovative approach to educating young people who have been abjectly failed by the old, outdated system of public schooling. The […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Schools, colleges aren’t preparing students for careers in Michigan
Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Paul Hillegonds, who these days is a vice president at DTE Energy, is one of Michigan’s most plugged-in and thoughtful people. Whenever something valuable and useful is going on in our state, Paul, a former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, is […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Educators ready to join governor in open discussion of school reform
(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) By William Mayes/Michigan Association of School Administrators On April 22, leaders from the education, business, manufacturing, government, and nonprofit sectors gathered for Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2013 Education Summit. The day’s events focused on ways Michigan could better serve its students while boosting the economy by creating a smoother transition from school […]