Talent & Education

Some Ann Arbor Public Schools board members say it is time for a change in leadership, as teachers’ groups defend Superintendent Jeanice Kerr Swift. Both sides accuse the other of lacking transparency.

Woodruff is the fourth president since Lou Anna K. Simon left in 2018 amid the scandal over the university’s handling of serial sexual abuser Dr. Larry Nassar.

Michigan’s record education budget includes $150 million set aside for tutoring to help students recover from pandemic learning loss. But the state’s strict approval process means a wait until possibly March for the money.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s plan for widespread loan forgiveness in June. But there are other ways to get federal student loans forgiven. Plus, Michigan has a new program to help teachers pay back their loans.

MSU officials hope they can sell alcohol at home football games and other sporting venues this season. One MSU official estimates the school will sell about $250,000 in alcohol sales per home football game.

West Michigan’s Patmos Library will add labels describing the content of books to its 90,000-volume collection to regain taxpayer support. The library hopes that it will earn support for a new millage vote in November.

The state’s elected board of education wants to know if a new department created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violates its constitutional power to oversee all public education.

The two city districts made national news this spring by banning backpacks to prevent guns or contraband from entering schools. After a summer of reflection, they tweaked their policies and are hoping for the best.

Michigan lawmakers approved funding for public schools this year to offer free meals to all students, pre-K through 12th grade, regardless of income. Child nutrition experts are pushing to make the funding permanent.

In remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the school shooting, MSU will not hold classes on Feb. 13, 2024.

A recently passed law will require Michigan public schools to provide information about sexual violence and resources to middle and high schoolers.

Michigan has invested $335 million in school security since the 2021 Oxford High School shootings. Concern over shootings has yielded a gold-rush of security vendors offering schools everything from robotic dogs to bulletproof whiteboards.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed several education bills, including measures that give teachers more say in classroom assignments. She signed another measure that makes it easier for out-of-state teachers and counselors to work in Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new state education budget that expands Pre-K access, boosts per-pupil funding and invests in training new teachers. More education policy changes are coming too.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs new laws she says are about ‘fairness, safety and revenue.’

University of Michigan-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta will leave the school in September. The change comes as the campus is attempting to improve the long term viability of the school, work that will temporarily be paused.

The aim is to improve educational outcomes from early childhood through after-school and postsecondary programs, with the goal of every Michigan student earning a skill certificate or degree after high school.

Roughly 750 prospective and current teachers are expected to participate in the Talent Together program as the state attempts to reinvigorate the talent pool for public school teaching positions.

In a win for Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, schools will now track the individual tribal affiliation of students, a move experts say is likely to triple the count of Native students and provide better feedback on their progress.

The state’s recently agreed-upon education budget for the new school year contains money for teacher recruitment, rural districts, Detroit schools, transportation, building upgrades and other items long sought by administrators.