Fierce advocates for the high academic achievement of all students – particularly those of color and living in poverty.

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  • Mich. Ed. Roundup - September 19

    September 19, 2017 by

    Observing Hispanic Heritage Month The following excerpt is from a September 18, 2017 blog post. Read the full post here. This year, Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, comes at a remarkable period in our country’s history. In recent months, we have seen…

  • Observing Hispanic Heritage Month

    September 18, 2017 by

    This week begins the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The annual observance is a time for “paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society,” according to federal agencies marking the month with…

  • Mich. Ed. Roundup - September 12

    September 12, 2017 by

    Standing With Our DREAMers The following excerpt is from a September 7, 2017 blog post by Amber Arellano. Read the full post here. This week, as millions of American students headed back to school, hundreds of thousands of young people – the “DREAMers” – learned the Trump administration would no longer protect…

  • Standing with our DREAMers

    September 7, 2017 by

    This week, as millions of American students headed back to school, hundreds of thousands of young people – the “DREAMers” – learned the Trump administration would no longer protect them from deportation, as they strive to achieve the American Dream. Let us be clear, this debate is not about immigration policy…

  • Mich. Ed. Roundup - September 5

    September 5, 2017 by

    M-STEP Results Show Need to Build on Progress, Not Reset the Clock Results from the Michigan Student Test for Educational Progress (M-STEP) released last Tuesday, means that for the first time in many years, Michigan has reliable data for measuring how well students and schools are performing against…

  • M-STEP Results Show Need to Build on Progress, Not Reset the Clock

    August 29, 2017 by

    ROYAL OAK, Mich. (Aug. 29, 2017) – Today’s release of the results from the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) conducted last spring means that for the first time in many years, Michigan has reliable data for measuring how well students and schools are performing against Michigan…

  • Hate comes in many forms, and we must stand up to them all

    August 17, 2017

    The outcry against the hate displayed in recent days in Charlottesville will fade. It is easy to be outraged when racism is marching up the street waving a bright red flag. As a parent, a Latina and the leader of an organization that celebrates diversity and relentlessly advocates for equity…

  • Standing Up To Hate

    August 16, 2017 by

    The outcry against the hate displayed in recent days in Charlottesville will fade. It is easy to be outraged when racism is marching up the street waving a bright red flag. As a parent, a Latina and the leader of an organization that celebrates diversity and relentlessly advocates for…

  • Opportunities Realized and Lost: Equity and Excellence in Michigan's Budget

    July 24, 2017 by

    Education and equity advocates have much to celebrate in this budget, including additional dollars for our most vulnerable students. Despite this progress, changes made to the state assessment should be concerning to all Michigan students, parents and educators. Since early 2017, the governor and state legislature have been debating…

  • New State Budget: Risks Honest Data for Michigan Families, Yet Invests in Students Who Most Need It

    June 22, 2017 by

    ROYAL OAK, Mich. (June 22, 2017) – Proposing to go back to the days when Michiganders had no idea how their schools were truly performing compared to other states, today the Michigan state legislature adopted the fiscal year 2017-18 state budget with language that risks Michiganders’ access to honest…

  • Letter grades show school quality

    May 18, 2017

    Amber Arellano, Sandy Baruah, Dan Quisenberry and Doug Rothwell The Detroit News Report card time. You open the envelope, or perhaps the email, and see a ‘B’. You have a good sense of how your child is faring in class. Unfortunately Michigan is not nearly as clear about the…

  • In little more than a decade, Michigan has gone from a fairly average state to the bottom ten states for key subjects on the national assessment. It’s a devastating fall. Over the coming months, the state has an important opportunity for change in the crafting of the Fiscal Year 2017-18 state budget. The roughly $14 billion school aid budget is the primary source of public school funding in Michigan. To be clear, money alone will not necessarily produce dramatically better teaching and learning, especially if that money simply maintains the status quo. However, money invested in transformative, systematic changes has produced extraordinary improvement for student learning in leading states like Massachusetts. Likewise, it’s important that our most vulnerable students get the adequate dollars they need to be successful. Lawmakers and advocates alike will be debating the governor’s budget recommendations along with their own ideas for investing in Michigan’s public education system. In this brief, we highlight and analyze key areas of the governor’s recommendations that advocates and state leaders should watch out for in the upcoming fiscal year: FAIR AND ADEQUATE SCHOOL FUNDING In exchange for greater accountability for schools and educators, Massachusetts leaders committed to greater funding for its schools—particularly those that were high-poverty. Unfortunately, we know that Michigan is among the most inequitable states when it comes to funding inequities between high-poverty and low-poverty districts nationwide. i The governor’s recommendation includes an increase of $128 million for schools, which amounts to about $50-100 per student. The recommendation also includes $22 million for high schools operations, as these schools often have higher costs that elementary schools typically wouldn’t incur. In a smart cost-saving effort, online cyber schools are recommended to receive 20 percent less in per-pupil funding. Previously, these schools received similar funding levels as brick-and-mortar schools, even though online schools have little to no building costs. In addition, the governor recommends a $7 million investment for districts that have declining enrollments. Because funding is based on the number of students enrolled in each school, many districts—particularly high-poverty districts like Detroit or Benton Harbor—struggle to fill budgetary short-falls due to rapidly declining enrollment numbers. Lastly, the governor’s budget recommends a significant increase in funds dedicated to addressing the additional needs of low-income and low-performing students—also known as “at-risk” funding. The $150 million increase brings total funding for at-risk students to over a half billion dollars. In a similar light, due to upcoming reductions in federal grant dollars for high-poverty students, a proposed supplemental budget is being planned to fill these holes. These proposed funding increases—particularly for our most vulnerable students—are a positive step for Michigan’s public school students. We recommend that these investment recommendations be included in the state’s final budget.

    OPPORTUNITIES IN MICHIGAN’S STATE BUDGET: ADVANCING EQUITY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

    March 20, 2017 by

    In little more than a decade, Michigan has gone from a fairly average state to the bottom ten states for key subjects on the national assessment. It’s a devastating fall. Over the coming months, the state has an important opportunity for change in the crafting of the Fiscal…

  • Michigan's Talent Crisis: The Economic Case For Rebuilding Michigan's Broken Public Education System

    May 19, 2016 by and

    Michigan is at great crossroads – a historic moment when our citizens and leaders must choose whether we will take advantage of major new opportunities to become a top state economically and educationally once again – or face a continued and dramatic decline that will relegate the state and its citizens…

  • Accountability for All: 2016; The Broken Promise of Michigan's Charter Sector

    February 11, 2016 by

    Michigan charter school authorizers’ performance overall has improved marginally over the last year, but remains terribly low compared to leading states’ charter sectors, according to Accountability for All: 2016, The Broken Promise of Michigan's Charter Sector. The report celebrates high-performing authorizers and sheds light on the devastatingly…

  • Michigan Achieves: Becoming a Top Ten Education State

    May 19, 2015 by , and

    Michigan is truly at a crossroads. After years of hard work to recover from the Great Recession, Michigan is beginning to rebuild its economy and many of our fellow Michiganders are getting back to work. While our recovery is fragile, there are economic signs of hope blossoming this spring…