Not Low Business Costs
I finally had the time to take a look at the annual competitiveness report published by Business Leaders for Michigan. The one that gets so much publicity because it shows Michigan has a cost of doing business 4% higher than the national average. Which they argue is what Michigan most needs to fix to grow […]
Right Brain Matters
Great column in AnnArbor.com by Tamara Real, the Executive Director of the Arts Alliance in Ann Arbor. Its about the value of arts education. Which as we all know is often first on the chopping block for k-12 schools. More broadly she cites the Right Brain Initiative which makes the case that to be successful […]
Not Mississippi II
In my last post I asked the question “do higher growth rates predict that Mississippi will have higher per capita income than Minnesota?” I picked the two states because the Mackinac Center argues that, due to higher growth rates, Mississippi should be a model for Michigan and we at Michigan Future have argued for Minnesota […]
Not Mississippi
In a series of columns the Mackinac Center asserts that Mississippi is a state that Michigan should use as model. One criticized a recent post I wrote in which I restated the core Michigan Future belief that what made Michigan prosperous in the past, won’t in the future. We need to get on a new […]
A Tale of Two Economies
Good article (with video interview of George Fulton) by Nathan Bomey at AnnArbor.com. Its called Education Chasm. Its the new reality we all need to adjust too. Using data from a new projection of Washtenaw County by UM’s Fulton and Don Grimes, Bomey portrays a county where the knowledge economy is poised for growth as […]
Improving College Graduation Rates III
So what are the specifics that higher education can learn from successful urban high schools to substantially improve student outcomes? By substantial improvement I mean something like the 90/90 that many urban high schools are now measured against. In the case of higher ed this would mean 90% of those entering needing remediation leaving ready […]
Improving College Graduation Rates II
Received a thoughtful response from Mike Hansen – the terrific President of the Michigan Community College Association – on my improving college graduation rates post. Mike is a reformer, one who believes his members can serve students better and is working on developing models for getting better student outcomes. He correctly points out that the […]
Worth Reading
When I committed to writing a blog twice a week I worried that I wouldn’t have enough to write about. Boy was I wrong. The exact opposite has been the case. I keep putting aside articles that I want to write about and then never get to them. So here are links to three articles […]
Excellent Schools Detroit
The release of the citywide plan for improving student achievement in Detroit was quite exhilarating. It marks a fundamental change in strategy and, for the first time, offers a realistic possibility that we can get big increases in student outcomes. What’s different this time? It focuses on kids, not institutions. All the past reform efforts […]
The Myth of High Paid Green Manufacturing Jobs
Interesting article in the Free Press this weekend on the wages that GM will pay workers in plants that will make the components for its electric vehicles. Less than $14 an hour. And yes workers in those plants will be represented by the UAW! This should put to rest –but won’t – the dream that […]