Author: Hannah Dellinger
Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.Students at Western International High School in Detroit say they are fearful and angry after immigration agents detained one of their classmates last month.“I just didn’t think it was right,” said Yoselin Luna, a junior at the school. “It’s just sad he has to experience that. It makes me sad because of all the hate.”Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detained the 18-year-old student, whose name has not been released, after he was pulled over on May 20 for…
Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.The Republican-controlled House passed two bills last week that would bar transgender girls from competing on girls sports teams. But Democrats, who control the Senate, say they will not consider the legislation.“Our legislative agenda is long and attacking kids is not on it,” Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Democrat from Grand Rapids, told Chalkbeat in a statement.Failure to take up the Republican-sponsored bills could draw unwelcome political attention to Michigan at a time when the Trump administration has targeted for…
Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.Advocates are calling on Michigan legislators to invest more state dollars into targeted funding for students living in poverty as the Trump administration’s efforts to slash federal education funding could have “devastating” impacts on the most vulnerable students.An analysis released Thursday by the research and advocacy group Education Trust-Midwest found that Michigan still ranks among the lowest in the nation when it comes to equitably funding schools, despite new investments. The need for more equitable school funding after years of underinvestment…
Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.Democratic senators answered Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s call for legislation to limit student cellphone use and classroom distractions in response to Michigan’s lagging performance on recent state and national assessments.A bill filed this week would require local school boards to develop policies around the use of wireless devices for all grade levels starting in the 2025-26 school year. The legislation allows flexibility for local districts to decide how the use of electronic devices will be limited for their students.“I believe that each…
Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.Students in Michigan’s foster care system are still routinely denied access to their school records, despite years of raising concerns about the problem.On Tuesday, foster youth and advocates told the State Board of Education they want the Michigan Department of Education and lawmakers to address the systemic problem by requiring schools to provide immediate access to transcripts, creating a centralized statewide database of records, and forming a multi-department taskforce to lead reform efforts.Foster youth have lost years of education because they…