Livingston Daily – Ron Dzwonkowski

“A nine-year span, going from good times to bad, and the idea of improving schools drops way down in importance. These are only polls, two snapshots in time. Still, they present a discouraging view of state priorities — and a poor reflection on state leadership, which has been trying since forever to convince the public that education and jobs are two legs of the same stool. The message, while valid, clearly hasn’t sunk in.”(more)

The Wall Street Journal – Alex P. Kellogg

“Detroit’s ailing public schools suffered an unexpected setback Wednesday when the district announced its budget deficit would balloon in the fiscal year beginning Thursday.”(more)

Wall Street Journal – Alex P. Kellogg

“He has since taken on the failing district’s academics, arguing that all academic decisions are financial ones. He has the strong support of Democratic Mayor Dave Bing but the 11-member elected school board decided to challenge him in court in August. The school board devised its own academic plan last summer, but Mr. Bobb didn’t fund it.”(more)

USA Today – Staff Writer

“Lansing Community College is so convinced the jobs are out there that it’s offering a money-back guarantee for students if they don’t get an offer of full-time work in the state within a year of finishing one of the four programs.”(more)

Time – Kristi Oloffson

“Money-back guarantees hardly seem to go with higher education. And offering them to prospective applicants during a recession sounds downright insane. But that’s the sweetheart deal a community college in Michigan has started dangling to try to increase its enrollment.”(more)

Associated Press (The Wall Street Journal) – Staff Writer

“Doors are expected to shut on more than a quarter of Detroit’s 172 public schools in June as the district fights through steadily declining enrollment and a budget deficit of more than $219 million, an emergency financial manager said Wednesday.”(more)

Detroit News – Staff Writer

“Michigan has delivered a sound, strong application in the federal education grant competition called Race to the Top. Teacher union objections to the plan should be seen by the Obama administration as a sign of the proposal’s rigor and strengthen the state’s case.”(more)

The Orange County Register – Alex Bergjans

“Irvine Unified School District’s fiscal problem is worse than anticipated as new budget numbers project a $22 million deficit, a nearly 50 percent increase from the $15 million figure that the district had been relying on as recently as early last week.”(more)

The Detroit News – Karen Bouffard

“Lansing — Michigan has requested $526 million in federal money to reform education through the Race to the Top competition, according to the state’s application released Tuesday night.”(more)

Time – Steven Gray

“In the last six months of 2009, Robert Bobb told the court, nearly 500 computers were stolen from schools, costing his system some $600,000. “The Detroit public-school system isn’t an electronics store,” he said.”(more)