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Edu
Michigan K-12 Education—$40 Billion Gets Us The New Jim Crow
By P.D. Lesko
Last year at this time my two sons, ages 10 and 13, were advanced in reading, mathematics and science, according to their work on the MEAP tests. This year, one son is advanced in social studies and that both are Level 2…
In Wayne County $729,675,152.78 in Federal Stimulus Money Went to K-12 Education
As A2Politico revealed in a February 23, 2012 post: The amount of stimulus funding send from Washington, D.C. to Washtenaw County between 2009 and 2011 is a staggering $767,218,458 million dollars, the 4th largest amount given out within…
New Study: Michigan’s High-Income, White Students “Sinking in Academic Achievement”
by P.D. Lesko
In Ann Arbor, it's the achievement gap that gets the starring role in the ongoing drama enacted on a regular basis by both members of the Board of Education, as well as the District's paid professionals. This is a drama that…
300 Michigan Science Faculty, Collectively Paid $45M/Year, Sign Letter Protesting Union For Their Grad Assistants
by P.D. Lesko
The bumper sticker is a classic one: If you're against abortion, don't have one. Limiting the rights of others is often mistaken for standing on principle. The University of Michigan graduate student research assistants…
Higher Ed Experts Call President Obama’s ‘College Affordability’ Speech at U of M “political theater of the worst sort”
by P.D. Lesko
President Obama came to Ann Arbor to tell the country that federal aid to colleges should be tied to tuition costs. Federal aid to students would remain untouched, and a cranky Congress would have to pass the President's…
Ann Arbor School Board Members Take Big Money From Unions To Campaign But Vote Against Contracting With Unionized Company For HVAC
By Chris Savage
On December 14, the Ann Arbor Board of Education members approved a new HVAC Journeyman contract with Flint-based D.M. Burr, Inc. D.M. Burr's bid was $66,727 less than the bid of Johnson Controls, the next lowest bidder…
Ann Arbor School Officials First Deny Having Actual Enrollment Numbers—After Multiple FOIAs & 72 Days Officials Relinquish Numbers
by P.D. Lesko
On December 13, 2011, A2Politico posted a piece titled, "30? 40? 50? Ann Arbor Officials Have No Idea Exactly How Many Kids Are In District Classrooms." For several days, it was among the top 5 most clicked headlines in the…
30? 40? 50? — Ann Arbor School Officials Have No Idea Exactly How Many Kids Are In District Classrooms
by P.D. Lesko
Class size: one time when size does matter. Research on the success of K-12 students has concluded definitively that class sizes impact the performance of all students. Kids learn better in small classes. According to…
Occupy Colleges Plans National Teach-in to Support Occupy Wall Street: No Michigan Colleges Participating
by P.D. Lesko
After successful October 13 Student Solidarity Protests around the country, including on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan, Occupy Colleges plans nationwide Teach-ins at colleges and universities.
You can…
A Descent Into The Maelström: Teachers, Politics & The Classroom
A2PNotes: Ann Arbor is home to some 16,000 public school students. Those students are parented by tens of thousands of women and men who haven't a clue about what their kids really do at school all day, not because they don't want to know.…
