Talent & Education

Even superintendents who championed returning students to classrooms in Michigan are finding it difficult to keep doors open full-time this year amid staff shortages, outbreaks and behavioral issues. Critics say schools should do more.

Some Michigan students are getting a week-long Thanksgiving break, the result of COVID outbreaks and school staffing shortages. Outbreaks are up 61 percent in one week.

Michigan superintendents are worried about meeting the required 180 days and 1,098 hours of instruction required for their full allocations of state funding

School buildings are closing for the same reasons as restaurants, and there doesn’t appear to be a quick solution to not enough bus drivers, teacher aides and other workers

Many early educators in Michigan will soon receive $1,000 bonuses, a ‘thank you’ to thousands of workers across the state who stuck with challenging, low-paid, and essential jobs through the scariest days of the pandemic.

A teacher shortage in the state’s public schools has grown worse during the pandemic. State Supt. Michael Rice wants to make it easier to certify teachers while providing financial incentives to get more young people into the profession.

Kindergarten enrollment was down 11.3 percent across Michigan last year as parents chose to keep their students home rather than face the COVID health risk.

The Michigan House dove into the national debate over critical race theory on Tuesday when the GOP forced through a bill sharply restricting school lessons that promote race or gender stereotyping.

The group behind the petition drive intends to work with the GOP Legislature to evade a veto by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Critics say it’s another GOP effort to use public money for private schools that runs afoul of the Michigan Constitution.

Amanda Hedges-Harrison is among 22,000 people who accepted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s offer of tuition-free community college. Cost is only one reason that busy adults, many with children and jobs, don’t complete degrees.

Many Michigan students are feeling the effects of the tight labor market as schools struggle to fill a wide range of positions, from teachers to nurses to social workers.

The GOP measures blocking mask and vaccine orders are likely DOA if they reach Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Republicans say the bills give parents control over health decisions. Democrats say they ignore science.

In mid-Michigan, a health officer and a Republican who tried to talk her out of a school mandate are both under fire. His sin was calling for civility in uncivil times.

School choice advocates are battling in the courts and Legislature to get taxpayer funding for private school tuition.

Michigan’s Black teacher workforce declined 48 percent between 2005 and 2015, far outpacing overall declines in the size of the state’s educator corps, according to a new study from Michigan State University.

More than 90 percent of students flagged for retention were promoted, a study finds. Low-income and Black third-graders were more likely to be held back because of poor reading scores.

The debate pits education advocates who want independent control of their school-year calendars against tourism leaders who want to ensure families can book vacations through Labor Day.

Cases related to outbreaks are down at colleges this fall, but have risen sharply in the state’s K-12 system, where students are far less likely to be vaccinated or required to wear a mask.

Count Day stands to look different than it did in the spring, as Michigan school district leaders worry they will lose funding for students who are in quarantine.

The leader of one of the top public universities in the nation has had some ups and downs in eight years at the helm.