It’s just another end-run around Obamacare that’s almost certain to fail — and could drag Medicaid expansion down with it.

Don’t let the Michigan House GOP fool you. They don’t really want Medicaid expansion in Michigan. They just want you to think they do.

Click through for the full story.

Actions speak louder than words

As Michigan Republicans continue their corporatist agenda of eviscerating the middle class, destroying unions, harming public employees and taking women’s rights back to the middle of the last century, Michigan Democrats are proposing important pieces of legislation that solve actual problems.

The first comes from Representatives Jim Townsend, Vicki Barnett, and Andy Schor. They are introducing a package of legislation designed to reduce gun violence in our state and to increase public safety. A separate package of bills will be introduced by State Representatives Gretchen Driskell, Jeff Irwin, Adam Zemke and state Senator Rebekah Warren that will reverse some of the restrictions Republicans have put on women’s health care, educate women about health care options, support rape survivors and address health care inequities women face.

Details after the jump.

I’m verklempt This is one of the most beautiful expressions of love I have ever seen. After 5 years together, what better way to tell our story than to have it told by some of those who played a large role in it. I secretly recorded Mike’s reaction while he watched the video, which I presented to him as part […]

Just not raining hard enough in Buena Vista Township, I guess… This is front page of the Buena Vista School District website this morning. While it says that school will be closed on Thursday, apparently nobody has been to work yet today, either, because the school is still closed today. This is the fourth day the school has been closed […]

Democrats are working together. Don’t wake me up.

Yesterday education leader John Austin, the President of the Michigan Board of Education and potential candidate for Lt. Governor in 2014, stepped back to clear the way for a gubernatorial bid by Mark Schauer.

Today, another potential Democratic contender did the same. Bart Stupak, former Congressman from Michigan’s enormous 1st Congressional District threw his support behind an as-yet unannounced Schauer candidacy.

His statement after the jump.

Oh, I see how this works

Over the past two years, Michigan Republicans have stripped over a billion dollars from schools and are working to defund them another $825.1 million this year, as well. They’ve also reduced teachers’ benefits and made their ability to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions more difficult.

Now that they’ve done so much to make a teacher’s job so much more difficult, one Republican is ready to make their pay primarily based on student progress. Current law says that teacher pay should be using job performance and job accomplishments as a significant factor. House Bill 4625, introduced by Republican Pete Lund, would make teacher pay based primarily on these factors.

More after the jump.

One more step toward a Schauer gubernatorial candidacy

This morning John Austin, President of the Michigan State Board of Education, announced that he will not run for Governor of Michigan, something he has openly shown interest in over the past six months. Instead, he released a statement throwing his support behind yet-to-announce candidate Mark Schauer.

Click through for President Austin’s statement.

No need to know math if you’re working at Walmart, I guess… Republican legislation was passed out of the House Education Committee yesterday that reduced graduation requirements by allowing students to graduate without learning a foreign language or taking mathematics through Algebra 2. House Bill 4465 would allow students to replace the Algebra 2 requirement with completion of a “formal […]

Make yourself heard

As I reported yesterday, the Michigan House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted to eliminate the sales tax on aviation fuel. This bill is in addition to House Bill 4539 which if passed, will eliminate the sales tax on gasoline sales in our state. My piece said that this would take $770.1 million out of the School Aid Fund (SAF). However, that amount is only for the repeal of the gasoline tax. According to a statement by State Rep. Brandon Dillon, yesterday’s repeal of the aviation fuel tax will remove another $55 million . That means if both bills are passed, $825.1 million more will be taken from our kids’ schools. This represents over two-thirds of the $1.2 billion Governor Snyder has asked for for road repair.

Click through for more including details on how you can make your voice heard on this issue.

Why don’t we like thee, Governor? Let me count the ways…

Recent polling conducted for the Democratic Governors Association and leaked to Politico.com shows Mark Schauer with a lead over Rick Snyder.

Details and more await you just a click away

Yet somehow they’ll blame the teachers…

The Michigan township of Buena Vista, in the news recently for its racist Township Clerk, is back in the news today with the announcement that the school district has closed its doors over a month before the end of the school year. Why? Turns out the school district had taken $580,000 in state funding for a program for incarcerated youths that it no longer runs. With an outstanding bill of $400,000, the state cut off its funding and it now has no money.

The district’s 27 teachers had agreed to work without pay for a week while the district sorted out its mess but, this morning, the schools were closed.

Details after the jump.