There are just over two months until the next election date in Michigan. The last election for some communities was a month ago. Did you vote? Do you know who the candidates were? There was also an election in May for some communities. Many people had no idea.  Voter turnout in presidential years is often relatively high (in the November […]

Years ago, I placed the blame for uncertified, unqualified edutourists who spent a year or two working in mostly urban schools before heading off to law school or cushy gigs at ed policy think tanks on the despicable persons heading up Teach for America–the Michelle Rhees and Wendy Kopps of the world–and not the fresh-faced, hyper ambitious noobs who applied […]

The following essay was written by Trina Tocco. She is a resident of Royal Oak and has two amazing children who attend Ferndale Public Schools. When the pandemic hit, I had to make a choice – either one of my children wouldn’t be able to participate in virtual school because of mental illness or I would have to put my […]

Late last month, the Biden administration to an important and necessary step of offering a tax credit to employers who offer paid time off related to COVID-19 or the vaccination. To qualify, the must be a business with under 500 employees that offered paid sick or family leave to their employees through September 30th of this year and have employees […]

I hear lots of folks talking about “our failing public education system” these days, and as a student of education there aren’t many conservative “talking points” that bother me more than this one. While much of this rhetoric lately has focused on the K-12 school reopening “debate”, the pandemic has also cast a bright light on the problems facing higher […]

If you’re wondering how even in a deadly global pandemic, standardized tests like the ACT and SAT are still surviving, like education “zombies,” just follow the money. • Over $1.7 billion is spent on standardized testing in the US each year. • Another $669 million is spent on elementary assessments. • Between $34-65 per student per year is spent by […]

If unions didn’t make workers lives better, corporations wouldn’t mind if you joined one. You know the basic story of labor in this country. Unions used to represent as many as 1 in 3 private sector workers. That number is now just 1 in 16. And as union membership has fallen, the share of income sucked up to the richest […]

I’m seeing a lot of well-intentioned rhetoric lately about the importance of good ventilation in schools to mitigate the spread of Covid in school classrooms, with the best advice being to “just open a window,” and “use a simple box fan to circulate exhaled air.” The example shown was of a “real classroom” with an entire wall of windows, a […]

I really tried to see “both sides” of this “reopen the schools” debate for the longest time…I know how hard it is to try to get anything done with little kids at home in normal times–multiply that by 100 during this pandemic. And I get the frustration that comes with trying to juggle work, bills, child care, and all the […]

When a Trump-supporting bail bondsman is your chief critic, that says … everything I don’t typically write about the failings of mainstream media sources because, in general, I think they do a pretty good job, considering the environment they are working in. But an article in this morning’s edition of The Detroit News is so bad that it warrants comment. […]

In spite of most of the US public being supportive of public education, our schools, and our children’s teachers, a small but vocal minority has been growing increasingly rambunctious about reopening schools. Recently, Dr. Ben Linas, a physician in Brookline, MA, added his apparently cranky voice to this debate, penning a piece for Vox titled, “I’m an epidemiologist and a […]