Posted 2-1-10

Michigan's economic recovery is predicated on young people being ready for post-secondary, work, and life. To work towards this, community members and legislators have been pressured by people they serve, and by the federal government as well, to make changes to the education system.

Recently the federal government released guidelines for a new funding initiative aimed to create competition and incentive for innovation and reform called, "Race to the Top." To improve Michigan's competitiveness for these funds, state legislators passed a series of laws that make several changes to school restructuring, teacher and administrative certification and evaluation, high school curriculum requirements, and the legal drop out age.

There is still more to be done. Although these actions are encouraging, it is important for advocates to continue discussions with legislators about expectations for educational reform, especially given the upcoming budget cycle, which could further impact programs and services for our most vulnerable if revenue options are not explored and passed.

Click here to read, "Getting to the Top: 2009 Education Reform Decisions and Things Left Undone," for more details of the new laws, an outline of what Michigan's Children believes still needs to happen, and steps and resources for advocates to take action.

Posted 2-01-10

The Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2009 emphasized the importance of place to well-being, and offers a comparison of trends in rural, midsized and urban counties. The findings prove the need to invest in children, and bring to the forefront evidence that children and families are languishing in Michigan's fiscal crisis.

Clearly, the well-being of children is key to our economic future and the single best predictor of economic prosperity is a state's success in educating and preparing its workforce. The good news is that we already know what it takes for kids to thrive in school and the workplace. The challenge, however, is that we need to better match public policy decisions to what works.

To find out how you can help policymakers make the connections, click here to read our Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2009: Place AND Public Policy Matter to Kids and Families.

Posted 1-25-10

The Early Childhood Investment Corporation today released a new study examining the economic impact of Michigan's school readiness efforts. Among the highlights of the report, conducted by Wilder Research of St. Paul. Minn., is the finding that in 2009 alone, the state realized an estimated $1.15 billion in cost savings and revenues due to the investments in school readiness over the past 25 years.

Read the report and executive summary by clicking here. 

Posted 1-14-10

Michigan's Children today sent letters to Legislative leadership and members of the House and Senate education committees urging them to take swift action to ensure the future of our economy by committing to adequately educate and prepare our next generation of workers.

The letters come on the heels of the Kids Count in Michigan 2009 Data Book, which was released earlier this week and contained some good and bad news about the state's dropout crisis.

On the good side, the rate of high school dropouts declined by 6 percent between 2006 and 2007, the latest year for which data were available. But the progress is seriously jeopardized by continued budget cuts to education programs and schools. 

Furthermore, the data show much work remains to be done.  In 2008, well over 20,000 Michigan students who should have graduated that year had dropped out -- that's 14 percent of the young people who began high school four years earlier.  And another 13,500 students needed more than the traditional four years to graduate.  

This crisis requires our immediate attention.  Click here to read the letter, fact sheet, and press release, and to find out how you can help.