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Starving Michigan schools: Capital City Lansing schools eliminate ALL art, music and phys. ed. teachers

Starving Michigan schools: Capital City Lansing schools eliminate ALL art, music and phys. ed. teachers

A generation of future entrepreneurs denied essential skills

To hear Governor Snyder tell it, Republicans haven’t reduced school funding. Everything is great for Michigan schools, he will tell you. If you want the real story, however, start attending your local school board meetings and listen to the decision-makers grappling with ever-shrinking budgets that have them choosing between offering our educators the wages and benefits they deserve and shutting down schools and eliminating programs. The reality is that our state government is starving our K-12 public schools and those chickens are beginning to come home to roost.

This past week, the Lansing Public School District announced that it is firing all 50 physical education, music and art teachers.

Details including the unintended long-term consequences of this action after the jump.

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If their goals are increasing poverty, taxes and abortions, ‘pro-lifers’ are doing all the right things

If their goals are increasing poverty, taxes and abortions, ‘pro-lifers’ are doing all the right things

If you want to prevent abortions, you make sure everyone has health care, sex education and birth control. Not the exact opposite. You’ve probably heard that North Dakota has become the first state to pass a “personhood” bill that bans all abortions. It will now head to voters for approval. But you probably didn’t hear that the same people have […]

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Michigan Republican meddling in university union contracts leads judge to intervene

Michigan Republican meddling in university union contracts leads judge to intervene

Now we’re getting somewhere

An administrative law judge has ordered Ferris State University to explain why they rejected a union contract that had already been agreed upon in an attempt to see if Michigan Republican meddling interfered with the collective bargaining process. It’s the first time a judge has looked into whether or not this interference has violated the law or, perhaps more accurately, coerced university board members into violating the law.

The union contract contained a provision that extended the right of the union to continue to collect dues from its members, staving off the impacts of the Right to Work law that has not yet gone into effect. After it was rejected, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the university.

Click through for more.

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Congressman Peters & Conyers summon the cavalry, ask Government Accountability Office to investigate Michigan Emergency Managers

Congressman Peters & Conyers summon the cavalry, ask Government Accountability Office to investigate Michigan Emergency Managers

It’s an EMERGENCY!

Congressmen Gary Peters and John Conyers have asked the Govenment Accountability Office to look into the efficacy of the Emergency Financial Manager Law in Michigan as well as whether or not it has resulted in any conflicts of interest or other improprieties as the law has been enforced.

Much more including their letter after the jump.

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Texas Republican Steve Stockman: Violence Against Women Act is wrong because it helps liberals & “change gendered” people

Texas Republican Steve Stockman: Violence Against Women Act is wrong because it helps liberals & “change gendered” people

When you’re giving Michele Bachmann a run for her money, you’re definitely going off of the rails on the Crazy Train This past week, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann attempted to solidify her position as the “Craziest Person in Congress” with not one, not two, but THREE different comments. First, she was chased down a hallway by a CNN reporter trying to […]

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Washtenaw County Board signs 10-year contracts with its unions, thwarting Right to Work law

Washtenaw County Board signs 10-year contracts with its unions, thwarting Right to Work law

Will Michigan Republicans go after and punish counties now???

Last night, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners ratified union contracts with union groups providing services to the County that stave off the effects of the recently-passed Right to Work law for ten more years.

More after the jump.

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UPDATED with Tea Party gloating: Obama health insurance exchange dies in Michigan, Senate adjourns without acting

UPDATED with Tea Party gloating: Obama health insurance exchange dies in Michigan, Senate adjourns without acting

The tea party wins – a good thing for the wrong reasons The Michigan Senate adjourned today for their 2013 spring break without acting on the state-run health insurance exchange allowed under the Affordable Care Act. Governor Rick Snyder said today was the last day to pass the needed legislation so the result is that the federal government will run […]

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Grosse Pointe teachers sign union contract that ties pay to school financial health, will pay for their own subs

Grosse Pointe teachers sign union contract that ties pay to school financial health, will pay for their own subs

Wait, is that a “pregnancy tax”???

Grosse Pointe teachers signed a new four-year contract with their school district that continues a unique twist: It ties teachers’ pay to the school district’s fund equity (basically what the district owns minus what it owes). In exchange, they put off the effects of Michigan’s new right to work law for four years and, thanks to modifications in the previous contract’s provisions, avoided pay cuts of up to 9%. In this case, it appears that the school district was able to use the threat of the impending right to work law to get quick ratification of the new contract.

Much more after the jump.

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Michigan GOP bows to tea party pressure, Medicaid expansion & state run health insurance exchange all but dead

Michigan GOP bows to tea party pressure, Medicaid expansion & state run health insurance exchange all but dead

You have to give them credit for taking government back — to a time when it didn’t care about the poor

Tea party groups in Michigan appear to have succeeded in preventing an expansion of Medicaid that would have given health insurance to nearly a half million working poor Michiganders and preventing the formation of a state-run health insurance exchange. The actions will cost the state millions and millions of dollars, ensure that fewer people have health coverage than would have under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and, ironically, help take the country a step closer to a single-payer health care system in the long run.

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations subcommittee passed their annual budget bill without the inclusion of the expansion of Medicaid that Governor Snyder, doctors, and hospitals across the state supported emphatically. Even tea party governors like Florida’s Rick Scott support this element of “Obamacare” since it would mean coverage of millions of their residents while relieving the burden on their hospital systems. They also kicked poor people in the teeth in a couple of other ways, as well.

Click through for details.

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The same delusion that led to the Iraq War won’t let America admit that Republicans are the problem

The same delusion that led to the Iraq War won’t let America admit that Republicans are the problem

America’s never-ending quest to take 2% of scientists who don’t agree with climate science as seriously as 98% who do As we examine the mass delusion that led up to the invasion of Iraq, it’s important to note that a similar delusion still pervades American politics. The perfect example of this is in Michigan. President Obama won the state by […]

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THIS WEEKEND in Washtenaw County: Public forum on private, for-profit prisons

THIS WEEKEND in Washtenaw County: Public forum on private, for-profit prisons

Ann Arbor Democratic Party
Washtenaw County Democratic Party Black Caucus
Washtenaw County Democratic Party

Present

A Community Education Forum:
Private Prisons — “Slavery in the disguise of justice”

Panelist will discuss facts, insights, pros and cons of HB 5174 and the effect these private prison corporations will/are having on our government and its citizens.

Click through for details.

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