Michigan K-12 schools

Schools are battling teacher shortages, mental health concerns and more. Gov. Whitmer said she wants to make “bold investments” in education with billions of additional dollars in state and federal funds. Republicans say they are eager to talk, but wary of the tab.

Gretchen Whitmer’s $74 billion budget would be by far the largest in state history. But problems with roads, schools, infrastructure and broadband have been years in the making and became worse in the pandemic.

A GOP bill allowing college students to teach in a classroom for a year without supervision feels like just another strategy to weaken and compromise public education by further de-professionalizing teaching.

Under the governor’s budget proposal being announced Wednesday, Michigan students would reap huge benefits from billions of dollars in state surplus and federal COVID relief funds.

Big storms used to mean snowball fights, not school. But remote technology has made it easier for schools to keep teaching in the pandemic. Educators say there are still kinks to figure out before snow days vanish.

The proposal is similar to bills introduced in at least a dozen other states, and comes in the wake of concern by some parents and conservative politicians that schools are teaching divisive lessons on race and other issues.

Some districts used up all their allowed closure days for COVID, staff shortages and school shooting threats. Students will still get snow days, but they may have to attend classes longer in June.

The former U.S. education secretary is throwing her riches behind a petition drive to create a tax credit scholarship program in Michigan that critics contend will undermine public education.

A law already allows bus drivers to serve as substitute teachers. Now, lawmakers are considering allowing uncertified education majors to teach for a full year. ‘We need to do something,’ sponsor says.

Administrators around the state have been asking the Legislature for more flexibility but so far their efforts have gained less traction than a school bus on an icy hill.

Tax relief. Historic school funding increases. More money for mental health. Gov. Whitmer’s pledges in her fourth State of the State align with some Republican priorities. Can they find common ground?

The first-term Democrat is set to deliver her 2022 State of the State address on Wednesday. From mental health and sagging test scores to COVID and the economy, she has a lot on her plate.

The state’s school outbreak report data is even less reliable than in the past, as omicron overwhelms the reporting system and schools end contact tracing.

One health official called it a “COVID test supply crisis,” with the state “triaging” test kits and some schools saying they may run out of needed tests next week if new supplies don’t arrive soon.

The more school officials tested, the more COVID cases they found among mostly asymptomatic students at Norwood Elementary in the western Upper Peninsula, underscoring the challenges schools face keeping kids in class amid omicron.

Remember the monotony of 9-to-5 worklife? Doesn’t seem so bad compared to the daily disruption of omicron, with changing school schedules, child quarantines and cross-city trips for test kits.

Keeping students in classrooms amid a volatile pandemic remains an all-consuming topic for school leaders. Children are suffering from years of disruption as districts weigh how to spend billions in additional federal dollars.

Students, teachers and staffers could return to school in five days rather than 10 under most circumstances.

Parents in the Detroit Public Schools Community District have until Jan. 31 to turn in COVID testing consent forms if they want their children to learn in person.

A new analysis confirmed what had been feared: Online learning wasn’t as effective as in-person during the COVID-interrupted 2020-21 school year, and academic gaps between racial groups grew.