The State of Michigan was admitted into the union in 1837 – for most of that time, landscape architects were able to work without having to jump through a bunch of hoops with the government. That changed a few years ago, but a bill in the State House would repeal some of those requirements. … more

The status of the $12,000 the union gave to the dummy employer to help keep the “home health care skim” alive an extra 17 months remains a mystery. … more

A Port Huron Northern High School teacher says the district where she works is using evaluations for "punitive" reasons and getting rid of teachers with the highest ratings over those with lower ratings.

If true, the district may have been breaking the law.

The district superintendent, however, says the claim is "absolutely, positively" untrue. … more

The House and Senate budgets call for more money for Great Start, which funds preschool for 4-year-olds in the state. But the bulk of the research on large, wide-ranging programs like Great Start and the national Head Start show that the results are dubious at best. … more

MEDC is a quasi-governmental and private entity that is supposed to spur economic activity and promote the State of Michigan. Although the amount of funds MEDC spends annually has been significantly reduced under Gov. Rick Snyder, it continues to have access to millions of taxpayer dollars. … more

The city’s auditors found that city human resources records weren’t consistent about when people were hired and when they left their jobs. Nor does the city reconcile their bank statements in a timely fashion, track its inventory well, or keep track of its capital assets. … more

Economists and business experts agree that if government mandated that fast food workers got $15 an hour, jobs would be lost and services would be cut back. The least skilled would be hurt the most. … more

This bad law is vulnerable on many fronts: legal, political, administrative, technological, perverseness. While outright repeal is unlikely under the Obama administration, it is possible Congress — including the Reid Senate — will be forced to open the law for amendment, at which point who knows what favorable changes the then-current climate of public opinion would allow (or demand).  … more

Despite the Highland Park School District spending $19,634 per pupil in 2010-11, which was the highest in the state, the schools were so mismanaged that they had rodents in the classrooms, holes in the ceilings and walls, and horrendous filth in the bathrooms. … more

Michigan taxpayers will be providing corporate welfare to a production company outside the state for a film shot entirely in another country. … more

While the Michigan Education Association continues to blame state budget cuts on the fiscal crisis facing some schools, many districts are getting more money per pupil but face dramatic drops in students that lead to problems. … more

Taylor Public Schools and its faculty union might have bypassed more than just the right-to-work law with their agreement earlier this year, according to a motion filed in the case. … more

MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate.  … more

Highland Park was spending nearly $20,000 per student. And somehow, the bathrooms were filthy. Somehow, holes in the ceiling were never repaired. Somehow, students at the high school saw rodents in their classrooms. … more

Ecorse no longer is under emergency management and a number of safeguards are in place to make sure the city doesn't need another emergency manager anytime soon. … more

The IRS questioned how much I had reported for a salary; wanted me to explain how my activities would not be "political;" and requested assurances that my news site wouldn't "discredit particular institutions and individuals on the basis of unsupported opinions …" … more

Medicaid expansion appears to face as many obstacles in the state Senate as it does in the state House. … more

A couple of Michigan charter public schools are facing the harsh realities of being held accountable for performance.  … more

When the Ottawa County Patriots tried to register as a non-profit a few years ago, the IRS dragged its feet for over a year. The group joins the ranks of those across the nation which were singled out for additional scrutiny because of their politics, says the group's leader. … more

In Pontiac, the district spends about $16,400 per pupil, according to the state. In recent years, the district has lost 45 percent of its students — but the local school board and union negotiated a contract that caused the average teachers' salary to jump 35 percent, from $56,781 in 2007-08 to $76,449 in 2010-11.  … more