A recent “article” featured in a post from the Great Lakes Education Project told the story of Denisha Meriweather, “an intelligent, dynamic and motivating individual whose life was changed by the school choice policies promoted by Betsy DeVos.” The title of the article on The Hill is, “Why we must give Betsy DeVos and school choice a chance.” Let me explain why […]

The news yesterday that Bay City, MI charter school operator Dr. Steve Ingersoll had been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison after being convicted on three counts of tax evasion and conspiracy should be sending shivers up Betsy DeVos’ spine today. Because while Dr. Ingersoll and Ms. DeVos may not know one another, the connections between them are numerous, significant, and […]

It takes a special person to teach in Detroit, Michigan. Although this has been the case for many, many years, it’s never been so true as it is right now. Not only are teachers dealing with a kids who are largely coming from families in deep poverty and working in schools that are falling down around them, for the past […]

How to Tea Party like it’s 2009 If you’re not a member of the electoral college, you’re probably wondering what you can do to resist the coming of the least qualified, most unpopular president of our — or likely any American’s — lifetime. Since most of us aren’t professional pundits but play them on the internet, we spend much of […]

Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education, the anti-public schools billionaire Betsy DeVos, has gotten the attention of an important coalition of Democratic U.S. Senators. They are asking that DeVos pay the $5.3 million in fines and fees that she owes to the state of Ohio going back to 2008 when her All Children Matter Political Action Committee (PAC) was […]

The Snyder administration was recently ordered to resume bottled water delivery in Flint by a federal judge. In his order, U.S. District Judge David Lawson said that Gov. Snyder’s contention that “the current method of ‘delivery,’ whereby Flint residents must find a way to retrieve their own drinking water, and can use water filters that may or may not be installed […]

Without insurance, Mark would have put off the care he needed to save his tooth. Sometimes, it’s the little things. Mark admits he’s not one of the people whose lives have been saved by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. But having insurance did save his tooth. The 26-year-old, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is a bike commuter because […]

The following essay was written by Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat who was reelected to a second term. Prior to serving as County Clerk, Byrum represented the 67th District in the Michigan House of Representatives for three terms. She is renowned for being banned from speaking on the House floor for saying “vasectomy;” for performing what has been […]

What started out as a typical lame duck session where legislative Republicans ram through scads of laws aimed at harming workers, restricting voting access, and benefitting corporations has started to calm down in the waning three days of the current session in Michigan. After backing down from diminishing the retirement benefits of first responders and teachers, it appears that other […]

If insurance companies are allowed to deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions as they did in the past, her story could be very different. Sarah was born with a pre-existing condition: a club foot. One of her feet was facing the wrong direction, a birth defect that required two surgeries by the time she was two years old. Surgeons […]

We all know President-Elect Donald Trump is not a big fan of the First Amendment. During the campaign, the Republican complained it has “too much protection” for free speech. He’s routinely targeted journalists at rallies and on Twitter as an intimidation tactic. After winning the election, Trump’s first tweet took aim at people protesting against him, which he whined was “unfair.” A […]