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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

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Bobb will use new powers to alter union contracts

By Ed Brayton | 04.15.11 | 10:40 am

As if to prove correct those who argued that the Emergency Manager bill would be used to alter or eliminate union contracts, Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Robert Bobb said Thursday that he will use those new powers to do exactly that.

“I fully intend to use the authority that was granted,” Bobb said, referring to a new law that gives emergency managers the authority to modify — or terminate — collective bargaining agreements. It was the first time Bobb had publicly indicated he intends to use the expanded authority.

His statement came as the district announced Thursday it is sending layoff notices to all 5,466 members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers and non-renewal notices to 248 administrators.

Teachers in Detroit have already made a series of major concessions in order to help the district overcome a massive deficit.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    God help those folks…we need a super hero…not a tough nerd.

  • http://profiles.google.com/davidseviltwin Dave Owens

    Who names their kid “Bob Bobb?” Really? I mean, that’s the sort of thing that makes a kid grow up with a chip on his shoulder and then misuse legal loopholes to break agreements. . . Or kick puppies.

  • Anonymous

    Its amazing to me that we are in a day of age where teachers have become the enemy of the public. Would anyone be anywhere if it wasn’t for a teacher in their life that inspired them to become someone, at any education level. It is unbelievable with all these big wigs in charge making 150,000+ year ( didn’t Dick Bobb give himself an 84,000 pay increase last year?) their only solution is to further cut the heart and soul of any school district….. disgusting!

  • http://profiles.google.com/justlance Just Lance

    Well, it sounds to me like “Bob the Breaker” has a mission. He wants to eliminate the public workers right to collective bargaining and he will use the public school system as a weapon. Education should be priority number one.

    “The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.” Try to come up with even 15 countries you feel scored higher than we did. I bet you can’t. Here is the link for the 2009 results:

    “http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/educational_score_performance_country_ranks_2009_oecd.html”.

    Here is the document in pdf form: “http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/12/46643496.pdf”

    We don’t think twice about a businessman who makes $100K a year doing whatever it is he does, or about some athlete who makes a league minimum of $525K like in the NHL (They are not a Public Union BTW), but a teacher who makes $60K is somehow screwing us? Come on people. Support our kids by supporting our educators. “Bob the Breaker” is only looking out for the interests of someone who stands to make a ton of money from his actions and you are not that someone. Here is a thought, cut the pay for all politicians first. Start at the top and work your way down. Find ways that don’t include setting up our kids to fail in a global job market. Subvert The Dominant Paradigm! Think!

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