Our last few posts have centered around the political games and lack of transparency regarding Senate bills 544-549 to create MI Education Savings Plans (M-ESP) being promoted by Senator and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton). M-ESP creates a new entitlement and expensive bureaucracy where money follows the child. The money can be used for MDE […]
Author: Karen Braun
Karen Braun is a writer and conference speaker on issues related education and family life. Her work has appeared in the American Thinker, Crosswalk, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, WatchDog Wire, and various other websites and magazines. She has also appeared on TV and radio venues. Along with blogging, Karen also enjoys homeschooling, running marathons, and spending time with her husband, their six children, and two grand children. For more information please contact Karen at spunkyhomeschool at gmail dot com
Parents and voters are FED UP with the inaction of the Michigan House on HB 4192 to Repeal and Replace Common Core. They are NOT happy and they are letting Speaker Leonard and Representative Chatfield know exactly how they feel. One activist took the opportunity to use Speaker Leonoard’s upcoming invitation to a BBQ […]
Last year, bills were introduced in the House and Senate to repeal and replace common core, science, social studies, and assessments. They did not get very far. In January of 2017, HB 4192 to Repeal and Replace Common Core was introduced by Rep. Gary Glenn. The bill was referred to the Michigan Competitiveness Committee […]
The STEM bill SB 343/344 overwhelmingly passed the full Senate. It was referred to the House and now sits in the Workforce and Talent Committee. The same committee where it died in 2015. Some might ask, “Why isn’t this in the House Education Committee? Simple. They want this bill passed to begin to credential […]
Senator Colbeck responded via Twitter to my post yesterday on the STEM bill and his support based on the notion that “he would like to encourage math and science rather than advanced basketweaving” Ahh…your misinformation continues. Nice try….parents in control not Lansing — Sen Patrick Colbeck (@pjcolbeck) June 6, 2017 Unfortunately, Senator Colbck offers no […]
(Update: Senator Colbeck has responded and calls this post “misinformation” but provides NO evidence to support his claims. Read more here.) Despite vocal opposition, the Senate Education Committee voted the STEM bill (SB 343/344) out of their committee. In a feeble attempt to placate objections to credentialing students for careers by the Michigan Department […]
Categories
Let the Governor’s race begin
As Memorial Day ends, the race for the Governor’s office is just getting started. The Governor’s office has become very important in education policy since the Common Core State Standards were adopted in 2010 under Gov. Jennifer Granholm and continued under current Governor Rick Snyder. In his time in office, Governor Snyder has […]
There is a battle brewing below the surface between homeschoolers and the state of Michigan over homeschool partnerships and state-funding for homeschoolers and it relates to the battle to transform education into a P20 competency-based system from cradle to career. A system that former MI superintendent Mike Flanagan said, “ALL learners must be in the […]
I received an email from Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard encouraging people across the state to “Like” his Facebook page, read his information, share our own thoughts, and help hold him accountable. He wrote, “I greatly value your input and appreciate your ideas to make Michigan an even better place to live. So, please […]
Education is no longer about meeting the needs of the child but meeting regional business needs for the workforce. State Senator John Proos has once again introduced two bills SB 343/344 to help prepare Michigan students for the workforce. SB 343 requires school boards to make the latest “career outlook” for their region available to […]