In March of 2015, Michigan Democrat Jim Townshend introduced legislation in the House – House Bill 4341 – that would change Michigan’s regressive flat state income tax to a graduated tax. Not surprisingly, it never went anywhere in the Republican-controlled House. And that’s a shame because, if implemented, it would increase state tax revenues by as much as $700,000,000 $870,000,000 […]

The time to make the case that Trump is corrupt and abusing his power is now Verily, I tell you: Democrats need to call for Donald Trump’s impeachment, despite the false hopes it might arouse, and they need to do it now. I’ve been insisting that Democrats need to talk about impeachment since late February, despite knowing it’s not even […]

It’s Easter Sunday and that can mean only one thing: it’s time for the annual repost of our Peeps® post. However, before we get into that, today is the last day of our first quarter fundraiser. It’s been an rather quiet week on the fundraiser front, something that is a little dismaying. Our costs here at Eclectablog increase each year […]

The suggestion that the solution to poorly performing students is simply closing schools is merely following what has become a common trope in the corporate education reform community–the notion that “the problems” in education can be solved simply by, variously, “getting rid of the bad teachers“, converting public schools to charter schools, continuously raising standards, or increasing the amount of […]

I’ll be blunt: we live in a time where the moral imperative is that we resist the decline of our country toward fascism with everything we have. It’s no longer enough to talk about politics over beers or coffee with our pals. It’s no longer enough to post fun memes on Facebook. The time is at hand for actual action. […]

Three years ago, I was fortunate enough to join nearly 400,000 people in New York City for what has been called the “largest climate-change demonstration in history.” I was in NYC with water warrior, Monica Lewis Patrick of We the People of Detroit to attend the climate march and facilitate a workshop on water at the Church Center for the […]

Would you pay 20¢ a day to make sure independent journalism survives? Then you should. I don’t generally refer to myself as a journalist. That said, there have been times when we have engaged in some dead serious journalism here at Eclectablog. During a time when commentators around the country were justifying and excusing the anti-democratic power grab known as […]

The following editorial essay was written by Ingham County Clerk and former State Representative Barb Byrum. Enjoy. Administering elections is a fascinating job, and one that I take very seriously. Like Michigan’s other 82 county clerks, I’m focused on providing reliable, secure, and hassle-free voting for all U.S. citizens, including military and overseas voters who face unique challenges in exercising […]

Since publishing my post on teacher silencing yesterday, my mailbox has been inundated with stories from teachers about being harassed, threatened, and intimidated by school district administrators for posting their opinions about standardized tests, opting out, and other issues of education policy and practice. One teacher wrote: I was having a discussion this morning with a colleague and we weren’t […]

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I received the note below from a former student who is now a teacher. For obvious reasons, I won’t identify her or where she teaches, but–shockingly–her story is becoming all too common… We had a union meeting yesterday where they warned us that the governor is going after the certificates of teachers that opted out their kids (of the state […]