David Barton calls himself an historian though he has no credentials as an historian and is far more accurately described as an historical revisionist. The Southern Poverty Law Center, watchdog for hate mongers in America, has an entire page on Barton and it’s worth reading only so that you can see what a jaw-dropping charlatan he is. Here are some […]

Michigan anti-union Republicans: Solving non-existent problems since 2011 Photo credit: Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog During the 2011-2012 legislative session, House Republican Tom McMillin introduced House Bill 5024 which would impose $1,000/day fines on individuals engaging in illegal picketing in our state and $10,000/day fines for unions that sponsor or promote illegal picketing events. In other words, the picketing […]

Not an authority on education achievement, apparently A couple of weeks ago, after listening to a WKAR interview with Education Achievement Authority Chancellor John Covington and the lawmaker who sponsored the bill that would expand the EAA statewide, Lisa Lyons, I wondered aloud if perhaps Ms. Lyons had already seen the MEAP scores that were released yesterday. Lyons, the chair […]

As groups around the state prepare to gather signatures to put a proposal on the ballot to raise Michigan’s minimum wage, a coalition of businessmen is preparing to fight the proposal tooth and nail. Before you bust my chops for using the phrase “businessmen”, take a look at video from the event. Other than Sen. Rebecca Warren, there do not […]

As I mentioned yesterday, the ACLU discovered that the Education Achievement Authority had a job posting on their website for pre-school teachers that described the position at three different schools as being “teachers are responsible for implementing a developmentally appropriate early childhood education curriculum in a Christian setting”. As I wrote in my post about this, the job posting language […]

The ban on same-sex marriage in Michigan can tear families apart [left to right: April, Nolan, Jacob, Jayne, and Ryanne] Tomorrow the trial of April DeBoer vs. Rick Sndyer begins. This trial has implications not on for our state but for the entire country. Although it started as a suit to give same-sex parents the same sorts of adoption rights […]

On Wednesday of this past week, news broke that State Superintendent Mike Flanagan was ending a 15-year exclusivity contract with the Governor Rick Snyder’s failed experiment with Detroit children known as the Education Achievement Authority. The contract specified that the State School Reform/Redesign District (SSRRD) would only place “low performing” schools in the EAA. By ending that part of the […]

NOTE: In the comments of this post and another one titled “An EAA teacher elaborates on the treatment of special ed students: ‘These kids deserve so much better’”, there are multiple comments from the same person, making it look as if there more supporters of Nolan school principal Angela Underwood than there really are. The comments are from one of […]

As faculty and students at Eastern Michigan University gather at a rally today to urge their Board of Regents to sever their educational institution’s relationship with Governor Snyder’s failed Educational Achievement Authority experiment in Detroit, lawmakers in Lansing are whipping votes to pass legislation that will expand it statewide and codify it into law. Yesterday’s bombshell news that State Superintendent […]

Pandering to the far right is bad for Michigan’s economy and our families Governor Rick Snyder refused to join the chorus who called for Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema to resign after the former member of Michigan’s House of Representatives. The party’s leadership was okay with a year of anti-gay comments but an especially vile anti-Muslim post made them […]

UPDATE: I have heard that there may be a vote this week on expanding the EAA statewide with what is essentially no limit to the amount of schools that can be included in it. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE AND YOUR STATE SENATOR TO EXPRESS YOUR OPPOSITION TO HOUSE BILL 4369. Thank you. When Eastern Michigan University was founded […]