A column written last year by Stephen Mucher, Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Bard College, has attracted a lot of attention from those concerned about the health and vitality of public education. And for good reason. Mr. Mucher mentions the recent history of campus protests across the country, which he says he has noticed on his […]

Being able to semi-retire and move closer to her parents means being true to the family values that are important to her. When Laura’s parents began struggling with health issues in their 80s, she knew she didn’t want to wait for a “trigger event” — when one of them became seriously ill — to begin spending more time with them. […]

I just finished taping a TV panel discussion for a local cable news show (click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the show) on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The panel featured two pro-Betsy DeVos, pro-charter, pro-choice advocates (the executive directors of the Great Lakes Education Project and the Michigan […]

The worst of the worst during Michigan’s lame duck – or as I like to call it: inflamed duck – sessions and this year is no exception. Last night, House Republicans rammed through two particularly heinous packages bills. The first is one I have talked about before HERE and HERE. This three-bill package – House Bills 6066, 6067, and 6068 […]

U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith finally weighed in on Michigan’s presidential vote recount, something the country has been waiting on since around 1 p.m. This evening he ruled that the recount should now end. This is the result of a Court of Appeals ruling saying that the Board of State Canvassers ruling that Green Party presidential candidate’s petition to start […]

The next decisive battles for the soul of the country will  take place in Michigan and Ohio, again One big reason Republicans want to wait three years before actually passing an Obamacare replacement is that they have a real chance of putting together a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate come 2018. That and they no motherpupping idea how to replace […]

As I mentioned in my update last night, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel ruled that the Board of State Canvassers needed to reconsider Jill Stein’s petition to force a recount and reject it. At nearly the exact same time, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal order allowing the recount, rejecting the appeal by Michigan Attorney […]

When Green Party candidate Jill Stein announced her intention to demand recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, I was skeptical. In fact, it looked to me like she was simply using it as a way to raise money and, more importantly, her profile along with getting Democrats to sign up for her email list. I’m still not so sure that […]

He sees not only the risk to his young son’s health, but to the economy and the country at large. When a healthy child starts having uncontrollable seizures out of the blue, it’s terrifying. So is the prospect of having to cope with a serious medical condition without health insurance. For Pete and his family, his six-year-old son’s diagnosis of […]

This past week I wrote about a package of voter suppression bills currently being blasted through the state legislature (HERE and HERE.) They are House Bills 6066, 6067, and 6068. Here’s a piece of what I wrote on Friday: First, we have the voter suppression effort that I wrote about on Wednesday. This legislation does away with the option to […]

Like President-designate Donald Trump, and his nominee for Secretary of Education, Michigan billionaire and Amway heiress, Betsy DeVos, I’m a huuuuge proponent of “school choice.” What’s more American than the freedom to choose (unless you’re a woman, and we’re talking about reproductive health choices–but I digress…)? It’s a fundamental human right to be able to make important personal choices about […]