Decade of change: Education system deals with fewer students, more poverty, less control, By Julie Mack, January 5, 2011, Kalamazoo Gazette: “Michigan educators found they had some learning of their own to do in the past decade, and the subject was ‘change.’ People leading both the K-12 systems and the colleges find themselves in very different places at the start of 2011 than they did 10 years ago, working through an unprecedented transformational period. Districts statewide have about 200,000 fewer students – but more children from impoverished homes – as the economy took its toll and competition with charter schools and choice plans offered parents other options. And the federal and state governments claimed more of a role in decision-making, leaving fewer things for local districts to control. Meanwhile, public universities and, especially, community colleges, enjoyed tremendous growth despite a gradual decline in state assistance – made up by nearly doubling tuition during the decade. But as state officials look to education to pull Michigan from its economic doldrums, they can point to some success…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty