Education

Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented?

BY: - May 16, 2023

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. On a cold evening in March, at a school board meeting in Oxford, Michigan, Buck Myre approached members with a sheaf of papers. As they […]

‘Everything is changed forever’: For Oxford, a never-ending nightmare follows a mass shooting

BY: - May 13, 2023

Updated, 10:51 a.m. 5/15/23 with additional information from Oxford Community Schools Oxford is not OK. Parents, community members and students have said that repeatedly. They said it in interviews for this story; they’ve described their pain during school board meetings; they’ve told school administrators and mental health counselors and the media.  It’s a phrase, or […]

Michigan Senate passes $79.6 billion budget plan, spending less than the House version

BY: - May 12, 2023

The Democratic-led Michigan Senate on Thursday passed its version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget. The $79.6 billion Senate plan came in just under the $80.1 billion budget passed by the Democratic-led House Thursday, but above Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $79 billion proposal put forward in February. “As we have for the last five months, […]

Michigan House passes $80.1B budget for 2024 fiscal year

BY: - May 11, 2023

Democrats leading the Michigan House pushed through this week an $80.1 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget, topping Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $79 billion proposal put forward in February. The House plan includes a $21.5 billion School Aid budget, which Democrats called “the largest investment in education in Michigan’s history,” as well as significant investments in […]

MSU graduates praised for their perseverance and compassion at emotional ceremonies

BY: - May 5, 2023

Speakers at Michigan State University’s spring graduation, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to the president, spoke on Friday of resilience, loss and community. Michigan State University students, many of whom attended the school during the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced the horror of the mass shooting in February, gathered on campus in East […]

Poll finds majority of voters oppose efforts to ban books and attack libraries

BY: - May 4, 2023

Efforts by groups and organizations to ban books in Michigan are being made against an overwhelming majority of public opinion that opposes such actions. That’s the takeaway from a newly released poll of 800 Michigan voters by EPIC-MRA commissioned by the Michigan Library Association (MLA) which sought feedback regarding awareness of, and attitudes toward what […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Policymakers have opportunities to make sure Michigan’s young adults can thrive

BY: - May 4, 2023

On Saturday, I’m graduating college. The idea of this is so abstract to me, and although I’ve tried to wrap my head around it a million times, it still doesn’t seem real. Maybe it’s because for the last few years through the pandemic, time hasn’t felt entirely real. It feels like we’re moving in slow […]

Striking U of M grad workers remain defiant as contract talks continue 

BY: - May 2, 2023

Following weekend commencement ceremonies during which striking University of Michigan graduate student workers continued to protest, contract talks, with the assistance of a state mediator, are scheduled to resume this week. The strike by the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) AFT Local 3550 began March 29, with economic issues the main point of contention. The union, […]

A top GOP lawyer wants to crack down on the college vote. States already are.

BY: - May 2, 2023

A top Republican election lawyer recently caused a stir when she told GOP donors that the party should work to make it harder for college students to vote in key states. But the comments from Cleta Mitchell, who worked closely with then-President Donald Trump to try to overturn the 2020 election, are perhaps less surprising […]

Biden proposal on transgender student athletes met with praise but also questions

BY: - May 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — Transgender legal scholars and advocates say they were relieved to see the Biden administration extend some protections for transgender students’ sports participation at a time when bans are being enacted by multiple states. But they say they remain cautious about the effect on high school and college sports. For two years, the U.S. […]

Detroit’s Nandi Comer makes history as Michigan’s second poet laureate ever

BY: - May 1, 2023

In the latest episode of “Detroit girls do it better,” in walks Nandi Comer. Comer, an award-winning writer, was announced as the Michigan poet laureate on April 12. Didn’t know Michigan had a poet laureate? That’s probably because the state hasn’t filled the position since the 1950s. In her new role, Comer will promote poetry […]

Some parents with kids in college still have their own student debt. New legislation could help.

BY: - April 30, 2023

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Waterford Twp.) last week introduced legislation she says will expand financial aid opportunities for students whose parents are still chipping away at their own student debt.  The bill introduced Thursday is called the Alleviating Intergenerational Debt (AID) Act.  “The average American carries over $30,000 dollars in student debt,” said Stevens, a […]