Published March 22nd, 2023
Michigan House votes to repeal right-to-work, reinstate prevailing wage, end A-F grading system
(The Center Square) – The Michigan House on Tuesday voted to repeal right-to-work, reinstate the prevailing wage, and trash the state’s A-F grading system for…
Published March 16th, 2023
Bill aims to trash Michigan’s A-F school grading system
(The Center Square) – After Michigan shuttered in-person learning at schools statewide during the pandemic, student learning suffered. Three years after the pandemic shutdowns began,…
Published March 15th, 2023
Michigan voters oppose slashing online, charter school funding
(The Center Square) – New polling data shows overwhelming public support for school choice and online charter schools among Michigan parents and voters. The National…
Published March 14th, 2023
Michigan schools to launch statewide infrastructure study
(The Center Square) – A coalition of 12 Michigan intermediate school districts announced plans to launch a comprehensive statewide school infrastructure study. The review will…
Published February 7th, 2023
Michigan bill aims to ease substitute teaching requirements
(The Center Square) – A bill introduced in Lansing aims to make it easier for Michigan schools to hire substitute teachers. Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles,…
Published January 11th, 2023
Detroit charter schools college enrollment numbers show school choice works
(The Center Square) – As Michigan Democrats holding a political trifecta aim to regulate charter schools, data from the graduating class of 2021 show that…
Published November 29th, 2022
Democratic majorities in Lansing will target public charter schools
(The Center Square) – Michigan Democrats and public school advocacy groups plan to regulate public charter schools among repealing the state’s third-grade reading law and…
Published November 28th, 2022
Grand Rapids Public Schools’ COVID spending includes D.C. field trips, equity consulting
(The Center Square) – Grand Rapids Public Schools received more than $100 million of COVID relief to help 14,000 kids recover from pandemic learning loss.…
Published November 14th, 2022
Michigan Dems want to repeal third grade reading law, reform or repeal standardized testing
(The Center Square) – Democrats seized a political trifecta in Lansing for the first time in 40 years, and now two legislators are suggesting changing…
Published November 7th, 2022
Federal court to Ann Arbor Public Schools: stop gagging student speech on Proposal 3
(The Center Square) – A federal court has ordered Ann Arbor Public Schools to stop gagging conservative students’ political speech about Proposal 3. The court order follows…
Published October 20th, 2022
Lansing Public Schools plans $19M of COVID relief for air conditioners
(The Center Square) – How does a district of 10,000 students recover from a pandemic that disrupted learning for longer than a year? Lansing School…
Published October 13th, 2022
Fired physician assistant sues Michigan Health claiming termination over religious beliefs about gender
(The Center Square) – A physician assistant who claims she was fired after seeking a religious exemption from referring patients for transgender care and using…
Published October 12th, 2022
Michigan schools boost online, in-person security
(The Center Square) – After a shooter killed four students at Oxford Community Schools in November 2021, Michigan schools are activating surveillance software and boosting…
Published September 27th, 2022
Blame flies among Minnesota government agencies over $250 million fraud scheme
(The Center Square) – After taxpayers lost $250 million in what federal officials deemed “the largest pandemic fraud” in the nation, the government agencies involved are blaming…
Published September 21st, 2022
DOJ charges 47 in $250M pandemic fraud scheme involving child nutrition program
(The Center Square) – The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 47 defendants for allegedly defrauding taxpayers of $250 million by exploiting a child…
Published September 20th, 2022
Some Michigan schools keep mum on COVID relief spending
(The Center Square) – Theoretically, taxpayers should be able to see how Michigan schools are spending $5.7 billion of taxpayer money to recover from COVID-19-related learning loss.…
Published September 12th, 2022
Michigan schools use one-time COVID relief for pay increases, increasing long-term taxpayer burden
(The Center Square) – Many Michigan schools are spending one-time federal COVID relief dollars on pay hikes that will increase the long-term taxpayer cost of…
Published September 2nd, 2022
Christian group sues AG Nessel over civil rights interpretation
(The Center Square) – A Christian health care group says that Michigan’s recently reinterpreted civil rights law relating to sexual orientation and gender identity violates…
Published September 1st, 2022
How Saginaw Public Schools spent $27M of COVID relief money
(The Center Square) – As students statewide return to the classroom, Michigan school districts have spent some of nearly $6 billion allocated to help students…
Published August 31st, 2022
Michigan library defunded over LGBTQ books hits $245,000 on GoFundMe
(The Center Square) – A GoFundMe fundraising site has garnered more than $245,000 in support of a Michigan library for about a year after voters…
Published August 29th, 2022
Michigan’s K-12 education enrollment fell 25% between 2002 and 2020
(The Center Square) – Michigan’s K-12 education spending, per pupil and adjusted for inflation, increased by 10% between 2002 and 2020 because the state lost…
Published August 25th, 2022
Lawsuit challenges Minneapolis Public Schools’ teachers union contract structuring layoffs by race
(The Center Square) – Minneapolis Public Schools is being sued after its teacher’s union contract made national news by prioritizing layoffs by race and not seniority. The…
Published August 17th, 2022
Michigan schools, colleges have only spent 44% of federal COVID aid
(The Center Square) – More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Michigan K-12 schools and higher education institutions have only spent 44% of $7.92…
Published August 16th, 2022
Report: Minneapolis teachers union contract structures layoffs by race
(The Center Square) – A Minneapolis Public Schools’ contract with a teachers union says that white teachers will be laid off or reassigned outside of…
Published August 3rd, 2022
How Niles Community Schools spent $4 million in COVID funds
(The Center Square) – Michigan’s more than 800 school districts received about $6 billion of federal taxpayer money to recover from COVID. However, some digging…
Published July 1st, 2022
Michigan’s $77B budget lacks tax relief but bails out pensions, offers record funding for schools
(The Center Square) – The GOP-led Michigan Legislature approved a $77 billion budget for fiscal year 2023, striking a deal with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that left $7…
Published June 20th, 2022
Whitmer signs bill to require Michigan high schoolers take personal finance class
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bipartisan bill requiring Michigan high schoolers to take a financial literacy class before graduating. “As a…
Published June 13th, 2022
Gov. Whitmer to sign $14 million school safety bill
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign a bill Friday, which would distribute $14 million to all Michigan schools to fund…
Published June 10th, 2022
Michigan lawmakers OK bill requiring high schoolers take personal finance class
(The Center Square) – The Michigan Legislature approved a bill that aims to require high schoolers take a personal finance course before graduation. The House…
Published May 24th, 2022
Gov. Whitmer wants $280 million to recover learning loss in Michigan
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to spend $280 million of the state’s projected $3 billion surplus on learning loss recovery. The spending…
Published May 10th, 2022
Detroit schools, teachers’ union clash over mask policy
(The Center Square) – About 53,406 kids attending Detroit Public Schools Community District still must wear a mask through the end of the regular school…
Published May 10th, 2022
Study: Remote learning a ‘primary driver’ of widening achievement gaps
(The Center Square) – A new working paper analyzed testing data from 2.1 million students in 49 states plus D.C. and found that “remote instruction…
Published May 4th, 2022
Michigan schools get $10 million in safety grants
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that 150 awards were given to 57 local school districts, 14 intermediate school districts, 40 nonpublic schools,…
Published May 4th, 2022
CRT protest planned over Jackson County Public Schools
(The Center Square) – A group called “Save Our Schools” is hosting a news conference at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at the Commonwealth…
Published April 27th, 2022
Whitmer gives $1M to create 1,960 children’s savings accounts
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer awarded $1 million to two Children’s Savings Account (CSA) pilot programs, which will provide education money for 1,960…
Published April 15th, 2022
CDC study: remote learning hurt kids’ mental health
(The Center Square) – When schools pivoted to remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the first casualty was kids’ mental health. A new study by the Centers…
Published March 29th, 2022
Minneapolis students face longer days, stuck in school through June 24 after long union strike
(The Center Square) – More than 29,000 Minneapolis kids can return to school Tuesday after striking teachers have canceled school for the 15th day. Members…
Published March 22nd, 2022
29,000 Minneapolis kids without school for 10th day as teachers strike
(The Center Square) – First, COVID-19 disrupted classes in 2020, and now it’s teachers keeping kids out of class in 2022. More than 29,000 Minneapolis students…
Published March 18th, 2022
Rochester Schools paid $188,750 to settle lawsuit over district’s dossier of critical parents
(The Center Square) – Rochester Community Schools (RCS) paid $188,750 to settle a lawsuit accusing the district of collecting a dossier of parents critical of…
Published March 1st, 2022
Justice Page Middle schoolers get BLM protest advice
(The Center Square) — Justice Page Middle School in Minneapolis gave protest advice in a school newsletter on Feb. 15 after police killed 22-year-old Amir…
