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Michigan bed and breakfast David Gersenson has asked the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation to help him fight a tax for advertising he doesn't want or need.
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There You Go Again: Teachers Union Spins Misleading Food Stamp Claim
The Michigan Education Association and Steve Cook, its outgoing president, has coordinated a disingenuous campaign on how poorly paid teachers are in this state. … more
Michigan DROPs Big Payouts to Retain State Police Employees
The Michigan State Police has an incentive program that gives employees with 25 years of seniority some $400,000 or more if they agree to stay with the department up to six years. … more
Michigan Wine Taxes Among the Highest in the Region
Michigan’s wine taxes are lower than most states, but still the highest in the region. … more
Done: With School Pension Reform, State's Big Pension Liabilities Contained
Anthony Randazzo, who directs economic research at the Reason Foundation, called the legislation one of the most innovative pension reforms in the country. … more
Traverse City Government Still Thinking About Internet Project
Jan Geht is the chairman of the board for the utility Traverse City Light & Power. He responded to a Michigan Capitol Confidential article that ran June 19 on the utility’s plan to build out a fiber optic network to every home and business in the city. … more
Government Internet Coming to Traverse City
Traverse City may become the second city in Michigan to own a municipal fiber optic network that sells internet service to residents. … more
Vitti’s 'Student-First' Agenda Faces Early Test
New Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has said he wants to pursue a “student-first state and local policy agenda” for the troubled district. Renegotiating the teachers union contract gives him an early opportunity to work toward a truly student-first agenda. … more
Teacher Gets $80k Salary, Spends Half His Time on Union Work
At the latest Ann Arbor Public Schools board meeting, three teachers criticized the district teacher pay levels. Their pay last year ranged from $77,729 to $86,414. … more
Michigan is Spending As Much on State Police Pensions as Salaries
The cost of providing retirement benefits for Michigan State Police employees nearly matched their gross pay last year, with most of the money going toward paying down debts incurred by decades of pension underfunding. … more
Michigan House Dems Propose State Contract Preference for Immigrants
Democratic lawmakers in the Michigan House have introduced a bill that would require state contract managers to pursue a goal of awarding at least 5 percent of the spending on state contracts to businesses owned by immigrants. … more
As superintendent of Edwardsburg Public Schools, Sherman Ostrander’s total salary in 2015-16 was $249,400, a $14,400 increase from his 2013-14 pay. That made Ostrander the fourth-most expensive school superintendent in the state of Michigan last year, based on state pension system records. Ostrander had a $161,000 base salary in 2015-16, but had additional payments such as $42,000 that was identified as "supplemental."
The average salary of the teachers in Edwardsburg was $54,487 in 2015-16, about 12 percent below the state average of $61,875. The ceiling for Edwardsburg teacher pay is $70,843, which is only attained after 22 years on the job according to the union contract. The Cass County district in southwest Michigan has an enrollment of 2,726 students with 136 teachers.
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Michigan teachers make more today than their predecessors did once you factor in inflation, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
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A college public radio station reported there are "differing views" on whether or not teachers in a public school district had received raises. You know, there's a public database that answers that question.
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South Lyon Community Schools contributions to the state school employees pension system has increased by $7.2 million since 2010. Yet, one teacher says fixing that "makes no sense."
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In 2016, protesters shut down a debate on Black Lives Matters at the University of Michigan by rushing into the auditorium and jeering and swearing until the event was canceled.
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How deep in debt is Michigan’s public school pension system? For every dollar paid to a public school teacher, districts must deposit another 37 cents into the state-run system, mostly to catch up on the accumulated debt caused by years of pension underfunding.
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The Michigan Association of School Administrators says reforms to the public school employee pension system are working. Meanwhile, the retirement system's unfunded liabilities have grown from $12.0 billion to $29.1 billion from 2010 to 2016.
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Lt. Gov. Brian Calley needs a heads up on how much public school teachers earn in Michigan.
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How much is the public school employee pension system underfunded? If it were credit card debt, a person with an income of $21,000 would have $29,100 of debt on their credit card.
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Holland Public Schools has the support of voters, who overwhelmingly approved two school property tax measures this month. The school district also is better funded than the nearby charter school.
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The term “gobbledygook” was created sometime in the 1940s to denote meaningless bureaucratic phrases, which often find their way into government press releases. The Michigan Department of Education is a frequent contemporary source of such language.
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