education overhaul

Rhee praises Michigan school reform progress

The Associated Press — Thu, 30 May 2013 16:53:53 +0000

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) - Education reform crusader Michelle Rhee says Michigan is making progress toward improving its schools but has more to do.

Rhee is the former chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools and founder of an advocacy group called StudentsFirst. She spoke Thursday during the annual Detroit Regional Chamber policy conference at Mackinac Island.

Rhee is a self-described lifelong Democrat who has clashed with teachers' unions, one of the party's key constituencies. During her speech, she called for honoring the teaching profession but demanding more accountability and rewarding the best teachers with more pay.

She also supports school voucher programs, which are unpopular with many Democrats who believe they drain money from public schools.

Rhee praised Michigan's Educational Achievement Authority, which was created to improve the state's lowest-performing schools.

Watch her speech here (scroll one hour in):

National advocacy group ranks Michigan 6th in nation for education policy

Jake Neher — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:30:45 +0000

A national education advocacy group ranks Michigan sixth in the country for education policy.

The group Students First says the state gets high marks for bills passed in recent years by the Republican-led state Legislature.

They include measures making it tougher for teachers to be tenured, and teacher evaluations that depend more on student achievement.

But Andy Solon with Students First said the state can do better in some areas.

Michigan's education overhaul: What does 'college-ready' really mean?

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:18:31 +0000

On Wednesday, we heard Gov. Rick Snyder's chief education advisor say this:

"We have over 230 schools where zero children were college-ready when they got their high school diplomas," Richard McLellan.

McLellan was talking to Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra who reported on proposed changes to Michigan’s education system.

EAA schools miss out on Race to the Top award

Rina Miller — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:41:22 +0000

Michigan's new statewide district for low-performing schools was not a winner in a national competition to share a $400 million prize.

The Education Achievement Authority was launched just this year in an effort to turn around 15 of the state's lowest-performing schools -- all of them in Detroit.

So it came as a surprise to Sandra York when the EAA was named a finalist in the federal government's Race to the Top competition.

York is executive director of the Michigan PTA.

Debate heating up over expansion of state's school 'turnaround' district

Jake Neher — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:29:58 +0000

State lawmakers are mulling over a number of bills that would overhaul public education in Michigan.

One measure would expand a new state-run district meant to turn-around schools with test scores in the bottom five-percent.

The idea has many public school officials pitted against each other.

Schools like Detroit's Denby High school are at the center of the debate.

Last year, it was one of the lowest-performing schools in the Detroit Public Schools system. Now, it’s one of 15 Detroit schools the state oversees through its Education Achievement Authority.