Category Archives: K-16 Education

By Jo Mathis The Huron Valley School District has had no trouble compiling a list of success stories as it concludes the 2009-10 school year. Among its achievements: MEAP scores exceeded state results on all 16 tests. MEAP scores exceeded or met county results in 15 of 16 tests, with third grade reading only one [...]

Maybe it’s the big-name speakers? Maybe its the provocative topics that are sure to dominate this year’s statewide election? Whatever the reason, seats are going fast for the Education Town Hall meeting on March 10 produced by The Center for Michigan and Public Sector Consultants. Just three days after announcing the event, we’ve booked more [...]

How would you like to click your fingers and make more than one billion dollars in economic benefit come Michigan’s way? Well, go ahead and click, and then express thanks for the state’s battered-but-still-alive early childhood programs for low-income children: A new study by Wilder Research outlines $1.1 billion in estimated cost savings that can [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s newsletter features two special reports on the dollars, cents, and sense of investing in Michigan’s youngest residents. Yet another gigantic budget deficit in 2010 means state funding for pre-school education and other early childhood programs is once again on the chopping block — despite reams of research suggesting big returns on investment. [...]

By Melissa Preddy As advocates for pre-school education and intervention rev up nationwide for the new decade’s initiatives, some state budget woes are short-circuiting access to programs aimed at getting infants and toddlers off to a good start. Even in states that managed to preserve funding when budgets were enacted, programs are under pressure. Mid-year [...]

David Brooks, the New York Times columnist who probably pleads for bipartisanship more often than the Center for Michigan does, is talking about innovation this week. “People are asking anxious questions about America’s future,” Brooks writes. “Will it take years before the animal spirits revive? Have we entered a period of relative decline?” Take those [...]

Kalamazoo economist Tim Bartik has some answers for Michigan’s economy… MORE BUSINESS INCENTIVES: Michigan spends $500 million per year now, but another $100 million could result in a half-billion in additional income for the state. (This idea may run counter to the latest thinking of some statewide business advocates). UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL FOR 4-YEAR OLDS: If [...]

Are local schools ready to innovate and change to maximize their competitiveness in the 21st Century? Not really, according to a new “Leaders & Laggards” report card on education innovation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress, and the American Enterprise Institute… Put bluntly, we believe our education system needs to [...]