The faculty and students of Eastern Michigan University’s College of Education have been actively seeking to end the institution’s affiliation with the Education Achievement Authority, Gov. Snyder’s failed education experiment on Detroit students. Among the many horror stories coming out of the EAA, we learned this past week that they are literally experimenting with 100-student kindergarten classes. I’m not kidding. […]

Earlier this month, John Covington, the former head of Governor Rick Snyder’s failed education experiment on Detroit students – the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) – resigned to become a consultant (and, according to Covington, to take care of his mother.) As Jack Lessenberry explained it in his Metro Times titled “Detroit’s EAA ‘fatally flawed’” (a terrific piece worth reading in […]

This morning, I lit into MLive reporter Khalil AlHajal for his atrocious “journalism” regarding Governor Rick Snyder’s failed experiment on Detroit kids, the Education Achievement Authority. As I was publishing that post, another article about the EAA was published by Bridge Magazine which was also posted at MLive. In stark contrast to AlHajal’s piece, this one by Chastity Pratt Dawsey, […]

I don’t normally hammer on the mainstream media journalists in Michigan. The job they do is very difficult and they are doing it with fewer and fewer resources all the time. I also try to cultivate a reasonably positive relationship with them because I know the relationship between full-time journalists and bloggers is often contentious. That said, when a journalist […]

It’s been a tough week for Michigan governor Rick Snyder. During the negotiations over road funding at the end of the last legislative session, our illustrious governor was MIA, choosing instead to head to New York City to consult with bond ratings agencies. His lack of leadership on the home front resulted in his Republican colleagues – who have a […]

On April 1st, I ran an April Fool’s Day joke post that I titled, “BREAKING: EAA Chief unexpectedly quits to take new job – ‘Screw you, guys. I’m going home.’” This morning the Detroit News is reporting that my parody post was not far off the mark and that this is actually happening – John Covington, Chancellor of Gov. Snyder’s […]

After working until 1 in the morning the previous evening, the Michigan Senate was looking at another marathon session as they tried to tackle road funding and a last minute push to expand the Education Achievement Authority. Although EAA expansion had been considered dead earlier in the afternoon, a group of EAA lobbyists, representatives from their two law firms, their […]

New legislation is being considered today to expand the state school reform/redesign school district (SRRSD) to up to 50 schools statewide in Michigan. Currently the Education Achievement Authority is the only entity contracted with the state Department of Education to provide SRRSD services. No schools would be permitted to be ordered added to the SRRSD until January 1st of 2015 […]

I’ve received word that a substitute bill to expand the EAA in Michigan is being rushed through the state Senate with a vote to come as early as today. The bill is, according to my sources, being championed by Republican Senator Bruce Caswell with the goal of getting it passed quickly before the Senate goes on it summer break in […]

In Ipswich, Massachusetts, a group of sixth graders, led by their teacher, had a novel idea: send a bill to the corporation who used them as guinea pigs to test their newest standardized test. Two sixth grade math classes lost an entire week’s worth of instruction taking a trial run of a new test and now they want payment for […]

Last month, the for-profit charter corporation Mosaica announced that it was breaking its contract, signed under an Emergency Manager, to run the entire Muskegon Heights school district. Why? Because they couldn’t make a profit off of running a school system in an economically depressed community. I know. You’re shocked. “To be brutally honest – they had to be brutally honest […]