Education

14,000 students have dropped out of Eastern Michigan University over the past ten years without completing their degrees, primarily because they couldn't afford to keep attending classes.

It's a big problem for universities across the nation, especially universities like Eastern Michigan, which count many first-generation and working people among their student body.

Public school advocates and the ACLU of Michigan want the Michigan Supreme Court to take their case. They want the court to reverse a decision that lets the state give public money to private schools in certain cases.

The Board of  Trustees of Muskegon Community College voted unanimously on Wednesday to continue its tradition of an invocation at graduation, but just to the extent permitted by the law governing church and state.

The vote was in response to a complaint sent to MCC by the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) about the 2018 graduation prayer led by MCC trustee Ann Oakes who is also a minister. Her invocation included a reference to Jesus, as well as multiple references to God and the Lord.

Kalamazoo Public Schools wants every student to see someone who looks like them in a book. That's why it's adding books to school classrooms to reflect the diversity of its student body.

It launched the initiative Tuesday at Woodward School for Technology and Research, where school and district officials hope the effort will engage more students in reading.

KPS is starting with just second and third grade classes for now.

A school district in southwestern Michigan is being released from an agreement with the state put in place in 2014 to help improve its finances.

The University of Michigan has seen sexual misconduct complaints against faculty, staff and third parties shoot up 161% in one year, according to a new university report.

The report covers complaints made from July 2017 through June 2018. U of M policy defines sexual misconduct as a range of behaviors, ranging from inappropriate comments to sexual assault and stalking.

Michigan’s public schools lost in court today. Multiple public school organizations and the ACLU sued the state over a multi-million dollar budget item.

The lawsuit is over public money going to non-public schools for state mandates; things like safety drills and health requirements. In its opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals said:

Michigan faces a looming education and economic crisis if it does not address systemic racism affecting children of color in K-12 schools. That’s according to a new report from the Michigan League for Public Policy.

At a conference in Flint Thursday, officials and national experts are discussing how to reduce health hazards found in schools.

The conference comes the day before a U.S. Conference of Mayors summit in Flint on water issues.

"Human-influenced global climate change is the defining scientific and social problem of our age,"  University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel told a gathering of U of M leaders Thursday. "And a significant component of this growing crisis is due to the burning of fossil fuels to generate energy."

State lawmakers are moving to keep the percentage of school administrator evaluations based on student growth right where it is now.

The percentage is supposed to increase to 40% this year.  But on a 14 to 1 vote, the House Education Reform committee Thursday endorsed keeping it at 25%.

A group of Detroit students walked out of class in protest on Wednesday, the same day the state uses student attendance numbers to decide how much per-pupil funding school districts receive.

The students say they did it to draw attention to water contamination in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The district cut off drinking fountains and other drinking water sources before the school year started, after tests found high levels of lead and copper in some schools.

Currently, there aren’t enough qualified teachers to fill the need in Michigan schools. One way to quickly get aspiring teachers into classrooms is something called “alternative certification.” These training programs don’t require any in-classroom teaching. But is this the answer?

A coalition of education, business and other groups is calling for more investment in college and career training in Michigan.

Tuesday, the Michigan Higher Education Attainment Roundtable released the report Total Talent: Equipping All Michiganders with the Education and Skills Needed for Success in the Economy of Today and Tomorrow.

The report says Michigan needs to greatly expand the percentage of the state’s workforce with college degrees and technical certification by 2025.

Students across Michigan are heading back to school this month, and in some cities, students won’t be getting their water out of drinking fountains.

In August, Detroit Public Schools Community District announced that all drinking water in the district would be shut off indefinitely after elevated lead and copper levels were discovered. As of September 19, results found elevated levels in water fixtures at 57 of 86 schools tested so far. And in Flint, the public schools plan to continue using water bottles until January.

In December 2017, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees authorized the establishment of a $10 million fund to pay for counseling for survivors of abuse by Larry Nassar. The fund is called the Healing Assistance Fund and was set up early in 2018. It is separate from a May 2018 $500 million settlement agreement between MSU and Nassar survivors.

A Leelanau County school district has made an unusual move in response to incidents of gun violence in schools around the country.

The presidents of Michigan’s three major research universities talked about state funding and campus sexual assault, and touted their combined research contributions and economic clout at the Detroit Economic Club Wednesday.

Sexual assault survivors of convicted sports doctor Larry Nassar have until September 10, 2018 to file claims for compensation from Michigan State University's Nassar Victim Fund.

About 100 additional women have filed claims since MSU's settlement in May with the original group of 333 women.

In May, MSU set up a $500 million fund to compensate victims of Larry Nassar.

Tuesday is the first day of school for many children in Michigan.

In Flint, about two dozen motorcycles greeted students as they arrived for classes at Doyle Ryder elementary.  Some students covered their ears as riders throttled up their engines to a low roar.  

Charter school groups and state lawmakers are complaining about how the Michigan Department of Education plans to count students enrolling in cyber schools.

All Michigan schools must provide a minimum of 1,098 hours of instruction throughout the school year, under Section 101 of the State School Aid Act.