Education

Five students from Albion College believe they know how to fix the U.S. economy. The team will share their ideas tomorrow in Washington, D.C. at the national College Fed Challenge finals.

Albion will compete against the four other regional finalists: Harvard University; Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; Lafayette College; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Six years after Kalamazoo Public schools unveiled the Promise scholarship, the program's administrators say the program has had success, but maintain there is still a lot of work to be done, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

The program has provided tuition assistance to more than 2,300 district high school graduates to the tune of over $30 million.

A report out this week shows more than half of high school freshmen and sophomores failed the first semester of the new blended-online courses at Grand Rapids Public Schools. GRPS is Michigan's third largest K-12 district.

The program launched in the fall of 2010. At the time it was (and may very well continue to be) incredibly controversial. Like any new program, Grand Rapids schools spokesman John Helmholdt says there was an adjustment period the first semester.

“There was both a district-wide layoff but also a huge early retirement incentive where we had more than 400 teachers, principals, and support staff retire; and so that first semester was a little rocky,” Helmholdt said. The retirement incentive was offered by the State of Michigan to try to save districts and the state money.

Test scores improved in the spring 2011 semester, but the failure rate was still 44-percent.

Thirteen years ago, Doug Ross lost Michigan’s Democratic primary for governor -- and that might turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to education in Detroit.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State University says a secret admirer has donated $7 million to expand its geology department.

The East Lansing school announced the gift Tuesday. The university knows the donor, a Michigan State graduate who prefers to remain anonymous.

Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon says the money will pay for endowed professorships and endowed graduate fellowships.

The university says the search for three early career faculty members for the new endowed professorships is expected to start next year. Part of the money will complement funds from an earlier
anonymous donor and will endow graduate fellowships.

Michigan State says another part of the gift completes funding for the Thomas Vogel Endowed Chair in Solid Earth. It was established in 2006 in honor of the retirement of longtime geology professor Thomas Vogel.

The State of Michigan is reviewing Benton Harbor Area Schools’ finances. That’s the first step in a process to determine if the school district needs a state-appointed emergency manager. It does not mean one would be appointed for certain.

But the rumors are already flying in the community about a takeover.

Detroit Public Schools’ emergency manager Roy Roberts says the district is making headway on its deficit.

The district ended the 2010 fiscal year more than $327 million in the red. Roberts says the district cut that by more than $40 million the following year.

The state-appointed emergency manager of the Detroit Public Schools is releasing a half-year financial update on
the district Monday.

Roy Roberts has called a news conference for 11 a.m. to announce a six-month update and revised budget deficit projections.

In September, the district was facing a $327 million budget deficit. Its finances have been under state control since 2009.

Enrollment is about 66,000, down from 104,000 in 2007.

Detroit's schools have lost millions of dollars in state per-pupil funding as thousands of parents fled the district for city charters or suburban schools.