Equity-Driven • Data-Centered • Student-Focused
Opinion: Michigan needs a school funding system that supports all students’ needs
As this unprecedented school year ends, Michigan educators are continuing to grapple with the many challenges of how to help their students catch up and accele…
On Stateside: Brian Gutman discusses K-12 education funding and the School Aid Budget
On Stateside, Brian Gutman, director of external relations at The Education Trust-Midwest, talks about K-12 education funding and the School Aid Budget. His in…
Key Priorities to Address Unfinished Learning: Amber Arellano talks with DPTV
At the end of a long school year for students, parents, teachers and administrators, critical decisions lie ahead for how to spend billions of stimulus dollars…
Detroit Free Press Opinion | Legislature should do these things for Michigan students’ educational recovery
As we mark the one-year anniversary of statewide school shutdowns, we’re seeing glimmers of hope, with COVID-19 rates down from peak levels, more children retu…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | Michigan’s leaders can act now to mitigate learning losses
As Michigan looks to turn the page on one of the most troubled years in recent memory, a bright spot is emerging as the governor and legislative leaders have e…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | No cuts for schools is good news; more work needed on fair funding
Never before in modern U.S. history has there been a more important moment for our state to commit to supporting all of our students, by recognizing every chil…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | Michigan’s school finance system limits vulnerable students’ prospects
All of Michigan’s children deserve an equal opportunity to succeed. Today they don’t have one — but that can change.A new report prepared by national funding e…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | Let’s get strategic in improving third-grade reading in Michigan
Like so many of you, I’m a native Michigander who grew up proud of what I believe are shared Michigan values: a hard work ethic, a passion for the Great Lakes,…
Detroit News Opinion | Has education in Michigan hit bottom?
For the first time in state history, Michigan public schools are able to compare their performance in some subjects to nearly a dozen other states across the c…
Michigan spent $80 million to improve early reading. Scores went down.
by Ron French, Bridge Once a week, Amanda Price volunteers in a first-grade classroom in Lakeshore Elementary in Holland. “They’re doing great,” said the form…
Mich. dip in 3rd-grade reading worst of 11 states
by Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit News Despite investing heavily in early literacy since 2015, Michigan schools showed the largest decline in third-grade read…
Education Plan Missing Honest Data, High Goals & Accountability
by Brian Gutman, Detroit School TalkEvery Michigan student – regardless of race, family income or disability status – deserves access to a high-quality educati…
Embrace data-based ed solutions
by Amber Arellano & Brian Gutman, The Detroit NewsFor more than two decades, the best states for public education have shown the importance of providing th…
Michigan can learn from top education states
by Brian GutmanOver the last several weeks, contributors from a range of sectors have described a sad truth that has been revealed by the data for years. For n…
Improving early literacy the right start
by Amber Arellano, The Detroit NewsThe start of a new school year is usually greeted with a great deal of optimism among teachers, parents and students alike. …
Michigan Gambled on Charter Schools. Its Children Lost.
By Mark Binelli, The New York Times MagazineFree-market boosters, including Betsy DeVos, promised that a radical expansion of charter schools would fix the sta…
Hate comes in many forms, and we must stand up to them all
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 bri…
Letter grades show school quality
Amber Arellano, Sandy Baruah, Dan Quisenberry and Doug RothwellThe Detroit NewsReport card time. You open the envelope, or perhaps the email, and see a ‘B’. Yo…
Dropping the M-STEP could ‘sabotage’ new school accountability system, group argues
by Brian McVicar, MLiveChanging Michigan's standardized test could "undermine" a new school accountability system proposed by the Michigan Department of Educat…
High academic standards help all students succeed
by Cheryl CorpusHigh academic standards are needed now more than ever.Growing up in a rural, blue-collar town here in Michigan, I often struggled to understand…
