Michigan

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Michigan
Visitors take photographs of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
Visitors take photographs of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts Two Notable Education Cases the Supreme Court Declined to Take Up This Term
The justices turned away cases on public aid to nonpublic schools and the 2021 controversy over school board protests.
Mark Walsh, October 7, 2024
4 min read
Registered Nurse Brian Jones draws a blood sample from Grayling Stefek, 5, at Eisenhower Elementary School on Jan. 26, 2016 in Flint, Mich. The students were being tested for lead after the metal was found in the city's drinking water.
Registered Nurse Brian Jones draws a blood sample from Grayling Stefek, 5, at Eisenhower Elementary School on Jan. 26, 2016 in Flint, Mich. The students were being tested for lead after the metal was found in the city's drinking water. The "final step" of a settlement was reached recently, with a distribution plan outlining how roughly $9.69 million will be spent to bolster special education services.
Carlos Osorio/AP
Special Education Lead Exposure Has Plagued Special Education in Flint. Can $10 Million Fix It?
A multi-million-dollar settlement agreement will try to improve the special education system in Flint, Mich.
Brooke Schultz, September 26, 2024
6 min read
Illustration of a diverse woman on a teeter board with a clock in one hand and a compass in the other.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Video How This Principal Protects Her Teachers’ Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is possible for teachers. School and district leaders play a big role in making it happen.
Lauren Santucci, September 11, 2024
4:12
From left, Andrew Rebello, former principal, Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Fall River, Mass.; Tracie Anderson Swilley, principal, Fairfield Central High School, Winnsboro, S.C.; Job Wilcox, principal, Petoskey Middle School, Petoskey, Mich.
From left, Andrew Rebello, former principal, Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Fall River, Mass.; Tracie Anderson Swilley, principal, Fairfield Central High School, Winnsboro, S.C.; Job Wilcox, principal, Petoskey Middle School, Petoskey, Mich.
Courtesy of NASSP
School & District Management Meet the 3 Finalists for National Principal of the Year
All three finalists spoke about the need to lift up their peers.
Olina Banerji, September 6, 2024
5 min read
Alaysia Kimble, 9, laughs with fellow students while trying on a firefighter’s hat and jacket at Estabrook Elementary during the Grizzle Learning Camp on June, 26, 2024 in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Alaysia Kimble, 9, laughs with fellow students while trying on a firefighter’s hat and jacket at Estabrook Elementary during the Grizzly Learning Camp on June, 26, 2024 in Ypsilanti, Mich. The district, with 70 percent of its students coming from low-income backgrounds, is struggling with how to continue funding the popular summer program after ESSER funds dry up.
Sylvia Jarrus for Education Week
Education Funding Inside a Summer Learning Camp With an Uncertain Future After ESSER
A high-poverty district offers an enriching, free summer learning program. But the end of ESSER means tough choices.
Elizabeth Heubeck, July 2, 2024
5 min read
Scarce classroom of students taking exams at their desks with empty desks in the foreground.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
School & District Management What the Research Says What Districts With the Worst Attendance Have in Common
Districts often lack a systemic approach to coping with the spike in chronic attendance problems, a Michigan study suggests.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 25, 2024
4 min read
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Families & the Community How a School Made Parents Central to Its Turnaround
A strategy to constantly bring parents into the school has been central to rising achievement at a Detroit-area elementary school.
Libby Stanford, April 25, 2024
16 min read
Teaching Opinion 'We Need Help': Teaching Amid Turbulence (Video)
None of her experiences as a Black woman or her professional training prepared her for this moment, explains a high school teacher.
Mercedes Harvey-Flowers, April 17, 2024
3 min read
Four roses are placed on a fence to honor Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17, the four teens killed in last week's shooting, outside Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.
Four roses are placed on a fence outside Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., honor Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17, the four teens killed in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at the school.
Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP
Law & Courts Oxford School Shooter's Parents Were Convicted. Holding District Liable Could Be Tougher
The conviction of parents in the Oxford, Mich., case expanded the scope of responsibility, but it remains difficult to hold schools liable.
Mark Walsh, April 10, 2024
12 min read
A woman and stands outside with her arm on the back of a boy as they look up at the sky while wearing special paper glasses made for viewing a solar eclipse.
Jackie Johnson and her son Bradley Johnson, 9, watch a partial solar eclipse at the Frost Science Museum on Oct. 14, 2023, in downtown Miami. In 2024, some districts are planning to delay or cancel school on the day of a total eclipse, out of safety concerns.
Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP
School & District Management The Eclipse Is Great for Learning. But It's Tough on School Logistics
A total solar eclipse will cross a large swath of the country on April 8, sparking tough management choices for leaders of the districts in its path.
Evie Blad, March 27, 2024
5 min read
Children reading books, bookcase behind them
iStock/Getty
Reading & Literacy What the Research Says There's a Cost to Holding Back Struggling Readers. See How Much
A new study calculates the cost to students and districts of "read by grade 3" policies.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 18, 2024
3 min read
An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2020.
An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2020.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Law & Courts When Blocking Social Media Critics, School Officials Have Protections, Supreme Court Says
The court said public officials' own pages may be "state action," but only when they are exercising government authority.
Mark Walsh, March 15, 2024
6 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
Caitlynn Peetz & Mark Lieberman, March 13, 2024
8 min read
First grade students illustrate a story they wrote together in Megan Gose’s classroom at Moorsbridge Elementary School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
First grade students illustrate a story they wrote together in Megan Gose’s classroom at Moorsbridge Elementary School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
Emily Elconin for Education Week
Reading & Literacy How One District Moved to a 'Knowledge-Building' Curriculum: 3 Key Takeaways
Don't expect teachers to be experts in every subject, and make sure to address comprehension strategies, too, say district leaders.
Sarah Schwartz, February 20, 2024
4 min read