Talent & Education

Legislative loose ends: Bills on teaching race, paying student teachers, creating dyslexia programs were still winding their way through the Michigan statehouse when lawmakers adjourned for the summer.

Four more Michigan schools are changing their Native American nicknames using grant money from the state’s tribal-gaming compact.

After three school years of pandemic disruption, Bridge Michigan wants to know if finding teachers to staff schools has become even harder in your school district. Reach out to reporter Isabel Lohman if you have a story.

A coalition of business, school, philanthropy and labor groups came together in 2019 to try and solve decades of mediocrity in Michigan public education. But major school groups, including the department of education, have bailed, leaving the effort in question.

The state’s higher-education budgets do not include a large expansion of Michigan Reconnect, the tuition-free community college program, but does set aside funding for a to-be-determined scholarship program.

In approving the state’s education budget early Friday morning, the GOP legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also added investment in school safety measures and the teacher pension system, thanks to unexpectedly high state revenues this year.

Grand Valley State University leaders are taking ideas from a group of high school students to create programs that will help low-income and first-generation college students succeed when they arrive on campus.

Education law experts say Michigan public schools will have to comply with the ruling, which found that the Washington state football coach was discriminated against by being punished for praying at midfield after games.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that states can’t give taxpayer funds to some private schools while excluding religious schools. Legal experts say it won’t immediately impact Michigan, but opens the door to broader school choice.

The bill passed with bipartisan support and would allow students to satisfy a half-credit of math, world language or the arts.

Seth Noyes crossed the graduation stage at Grand Rapids Community College with his letter of academic suspension taped to his cap.

Currently, most college students studying to become teachers must work for free while student teaching, a burden that creates one more obstacle to pursuing a teaching career. The bill would pay them $90 a day, and also pay their classroom mentors.

Oxford Community Schools will be able to use the new state funding for staffing to help traumatized students, as well as for repairs to the high school in the wake of the deadly shooting.

Students could get as much as $6,000 in new scholarship money in a new state financial aid program. For businesses, it’s a way to create and retain a ‘high-talent’ workforce in Michigan.

About a third of teachers hired last year in Michigan were initially certified in other states. That could increase under a bill now being considered in Lansing.

Rep. Julie Alexander’s bill would have given students up to $1,500 to spend on tutoring and other education expenses. Democrats call it a voucher program. Where does tutoring stand in Michigan now?

Michigan officials launched the pilot, called Strong Beginnings, on the premise that high-quality education has profound benefits for all early learners, not just those who are a year away from kindergarten.

The pandemic intensified a long-festering youth mental health crisis and left schools searching for answers. In Michigan, 600 schools have adopted a social-emotional learning curriculum known as TRAILS – Transforming Research into Action to Improve the lives of students. It is poised to grow further – if the Legislature approves $150 million in new funding.

Amid the national debate about “critical race theory,” Michigan lawmakers weigh a bill to prohibit teaching of “race or gender stereotyping.” Critics say it’s a distraction.

Tutoring is one of the most effective ways to catch students up, and the Detroit district appears to be doing much of what experts say is critical to the success of such programs.