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 [...]
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.
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.
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.
An organization that worked with the state legislature to draft laws that limit collective bargaining rights and tenure for teachers spent more than $900,000 on advertising in the first seven months of this year.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network reports that Students First, a California and D.C.-based ‘education reform’ organization, spent more than any other group on lobbying over this period.
StudentsFirst was founded by Michelle Rhee, a former leader of the Washington, D.C. public schools.
The group pushed a four-bill package that makes it harder for teachers to get tenure and easier for districts to lay off teachers and bans teachers from bargaining over personnel issues, including matters relating to placement and discipline.
StudentsFirst worked to create public support for these measures with a campaign that included TV and radio ads, targeted direct mail and support for constituent calls to lawmakers.
The bills were approved by the legislature on June 30.
The Michigan Education Association called the package “anti-collective bargaining, anti-tenure” measures that will hurt children by forcing good teachers out of the profession and increasing staff turnover.
MCFN notes that following the vote on the education package StudentsFirst persuaded state Rep. Tim Melton (D-Auburn Hills) to leave his post in the legislature and move to California to work for the group.
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