Insider Intelligence

On Tuesday, Governor Rick Snyder signed into law a recently passed package of legislation making reforms to the Detroit Public Schools.  Additionally, the newly signed law includes $467 million to help pay off long-standing debt and $150 million to improve facilities and invest in student achievement.  The reforms will end the emergency management of the […]

This week, the House and Senate granted approval to a package of legislation making reforms to Detroit Public Schools (DPS).  The package previously passed by the House was vastly different from the Senate-passed proposal.  For several days there was uncertainty as to if the Senate would have enough votes to pass the House’s new proposal.  […]

Following several hours of session, negotiations, and caucusing, the House was able to muster enough votes to pass a package of legislation making numerous reforms to Detroit Public Schools. The package, which contains three House and three Senate bills, was initially passed by the House last month.  However, yesterday the House requested the return of […]

Following a nearly fourteen hour session, the House passed a package of bills reforming Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and appropriating funds to keep the schools afloat.  The bill package was passed without the support of any of the members of the Democratic caucus.  The bills would appropriate $33 million in emergency funding and $500 million […]

This week, the Senate Education Committee reported a bill repealing Common Core State Standards in Michigan.  Under the legislation, the state’s current standards would be replaced with the Massachusetts pre-Common Core standards.  According to the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Phil Pavlov (R-Saint Clair), Massachusetts is often praised as the best state for […]

This week, Representative Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Twp.) introduced a House Resolution that would amend the Michigan constitution to eliminate the State Board of Education.  Additionally, the resolution would alter the process by which the Superintendent of Public Instruction is selected and hired.  Currently the Board is responsible for hiring the Superintendent, but under the resolution […]

On Monday, Governor Rick Snyder announced that Craig Ruff will rejoin the executive team on an interim basis as a special advisor on educaiton.  He will focus on issues such as the 21st Century Education Commission, Detroit Public Schools restructuring, and talent development.  Mr. Ruff previously served in the role until his retirement in 2015.  His appointment […]

On Monday, Governor Rick Snyder signed an Executive Order creating the 21st Century Education Commission, something which he announced in January’s State of the State address.  The commission will be responsible for analyzing top performing education systems nationwide, identifying issues impacting Michigan’s academic success, and recommending changes to restructure the state’s education system.  The commission […]