We’re very proud to announce a new project of Eclectablog called “Big Picture”. Big Picture is a subsite of Eclectablog that gives you a visual reframing of the issues and stories you care about. It’s a political story, told in words and pictures that gives you a broad view of important topics, presented in a compelling fashion. While several of […]

This past weekend, Democratic State House Rep. Jeff Irwin from Ann Arbor debated Governor Snyder’s $1 billion in cuts to education funding with Republican Pete Lund on Fox News’ Let It Rip program. Lund used the argument that shoring up the teachers pension fund is “education funding”. Irwin pointed to the diversion of money from classrooms and teaching and higher […]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been going out twice a week to knock doors for Pam Byrnes, the Democrat running to unseat Tim Walberg, the current Congressman for Michigan’s 7th District. Last week, while speaking to one woman, I asked her, “Can we count on your support for our Democratic candidates this year?” Her response was, “Of course. I’m […]

SEE UPDATE BELOW You know the corporate funders driving the push to dismantle and privatize as much of our public school system as they possibly can are freaking out when they do stuff like this tweet from the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP): You also know they’ve stepped in it when they have to tweet out four explanatory tweets following […]

Next Saturday, June 14 the Partnership for Music Education Policy Development will host a Music Education Policy Summit from 9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on the campus of Michigan State University at the Cook Recital Hall in the MSU Music Building. The purpose of the Summit is to examine the most pressing needs regarding music education policy in the state of Michigan. […]

Spin all you want, Governor. Voters KNOW. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Republicans want you to believe that they have done more to help fund education than any ever before in our state. By comparing what they are spending to what the state spent when we were receiving funds from the Stimulus program that offset prior spending, they show you […]

One of the recurring themes in the conversations that I have had with various teachers and administrators who work or have worked for the Education Achievement Authority is that when financial benefactors or members of our state government came to visit, the entire school transformed. Schedules were altered, often on the fly, to accommodate the visitors’ schedules. Kids ate lunch […]

As Gary notes below, this post will be his last at Eclectablog. It’s been a joy to have him writing for the site and sharing his wisdom and insight into the world of an educator who is on the cutting edge of science-based education models and who understands both the benefits and perils of the use of technology in the […]

Republican Governor Rick Snyder is spending an enormous amount of effort trying to convince Michigan residents that he has increased school funding. In reality, it’s true. The state of Michigan is spending a bit more now than when Snyder took office. But that’s only because he includes temporary federal funding as part of the Stimulus spending legislation sent to states […]

It appears that the state House may vote on HB 4369, legislation that would expand the State school reform/redesign (SSRR) school district (which includes the EAA), today or in the very near future, perhaps even yet today. Word I have been getting is that the bill has changed since the Senate passed it. In response to this movement, State Board […]

In addition to the multiple other education-related events happening in Michigan this week (details on the others HERE), the group Michigan for Public Education is holding its quarterly speakers meeting this Friday, March 14. This event will host three outstanding speakers covering an array of topics related to protecting our public education system in Michigan: David Arsen, Ph.D. from MSU […]