Virtual education expands learning options for MI students

Republicans in Michigan’s House of Representatives have created an aggressive plan for fixing Detroit Public Schools. Critics complain that it weakens collective bargaining and delays a fully-elected school board. We talk with a charter school advocate who says the measures are worth a close look.

The potential bankruptcy of Detroit Public Schools is dominating education headlines, but Michigan officials are trying to look beyond the current emergency and put the state on the track to becoming a top 10 education state by 2026. Current State talks to the president of the State Board of Education, John Austin, about what it will take to do that.

We’ve talked about the importance of literacy on Current State before, but there’s a relatively new organization we haven’t yet heard from. Energizing Education was created to ensure all children in Jackson County are reading at or above grade level by the 4th grade. We speak with Program Manager Kriss Giannetti about the creative ways they help kids become strong readers.

The end is nearing for Michigan’s controversial Education Achievement Authority. With that and urgent Detroit Public Schools reforms being discussed in the legislature, where are we and what is the way ahead? We speak with Tonya Allen of the Coalition for the Education of Detroit Schoolchildren and MSU professor David Arsen, who has studied the EAA.