Talent & Education

The two city districts made national news this spring by banning backpacks to prevent guns or contraband from entering schools. After a summer of reflection, they tweaked their policies and are hoping for the best.

Michigan lawmakers approved funding for public schools this year to offer free meals to all students, pre-K through 12th grade, regardless of income. Child nutrition experts are pushing to make the funding permanent.

In remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the school shooting, MSU will not hold classes on Feb. 13, 2024.

A recently passed law will require Michigan public schools to provide information about sexual violence and resources to middle and high schoolers.

Michigan has invested $335 million in school security since the 2021 Oxford High School shootings. Concern over shootings has yielded a gold-rush of security vendors offering schools everything from robotic dogs to bulletproof whiteboards.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed several education bills, including measures that give teachers more say in classroom assignments. She signed another measure that makes it easier for out-of-state teachers and counselors to work in Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new state education budget that expands Pre-K access, boosts per-pupil funding and invests in training new teachers. More education policy changes are coming too.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs new laws she says are about ‘fairness, safety and revenue.’

University of Michigan-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta will leave the school in September. The change comes as the campus is attempting to improve the long term viability of the school, work that will temporarily be paused.

The aim is to improve educational outcomes from early childhood through after-school and postsecondary programs, with the goal of every Michigan student earning a skill certificate or degree after high school.

Roughly 750 prospective and current teachers are expected to participate in the Talent Together program as the state attempts to reinvigorate the talent pool for public school teaching positions.

In a win for Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, schools will now track the individual tribal affiliation of students, a move experts say is likely to triple the count of Native students and provide better feedback on their progress.

The state’s recently agreed-upon education budget for the new school year contains money for teacher recruitment, rural districts, Detroit schools, transportation, building upgrades and other items long sought by administrators.

In rejecting the plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt, the court crushed a signature promise made by Joe Biden in the 2020 race for president. The ruling impacts more than 40 million borrowers, including over 800,000 in Michigan.

The state’s decision to stop funding driver’s education and high private driver’s education costs may be contributing to many Michigan teens delaying getting their driver’s licenses.

The Supreme Court reversed years of precedent in ruling that race-conscious college admissions policies violate the Equal Protection Clause. U-M officials say a 2006 affirmative action ban in Michigan made fielding a diverse student body harder.

In Democrats’ first education budget, lawmakers directed more funds to schools with disadvantaged students as the state tries to recover from pandemic learning loss. There is also more investment for English language learners and special education.

Some workers had never been fingerprinted, and others worked weeks or years before they were fingerprinted, the state audit found.

Lawyers for slain students Brian Fraser and Arielle Anderson, and for an injured student, Hanyang Tao, filed court papers that may be a prelude to suit. Seven of the eight students shot in February have now filed court notices.

The Breslin Center is getting a facelift, and Spartan fans will be able to purchase pieces of the old scoreboard at the MSU Surplus Store.