In the 12 years since the city of Detroit declared bankruptcy, a new generation of voters came of age.
A sizeable portion of Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—are now old enough to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s election. That group in 2022 voted at a higher rate in their first midterms than Millennials, Gen X, and likely Boomers when they were the same age, making them a relatively more civically engaged cohort.
As we approach a different kind of off year election, when the keys to the future of Detroit are up for grabs, just how engaged is Gen Z in local politics?
Guests:
Imani Foster – Communication lead with 482forward, a coalition that supports education in Detroit.
Jonathan Shepard – Film marketing and journalism student at Wayne State University and the multimedia manager for the the school’s newspaper.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights and pro-Israel lobbying organization, quietly filed a sweeping Freedom of Information Act request with Wayne State University seeking emails from thousands of faculty, staff, and administrators that referenced Palestine, Zionism, or the student group Students for Justice in Palestine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 Democrat-led states are challenging a new Trump administration policy designed to block nonprofit and government workers from a student loan cancellation program if federal officials determine their employer has a “substantial illegal purpose.”
The policy is aimed primarily at organizations that work with immigrants and transgender youth.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts, the states argue the Trump administration overstepped its authority when it added new eligibility rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The overhaul will worsen job shortages and create instability in state workforces, the suit said.
The legal challenge is being led by New York, Massachusetts, California and Colorado. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the rule is “a political loyalty test disguised as a regulation,” adding that it’s “unjust and unlawful to cut off loan forgiveness for hardworking Americans based on ideology.”
A separate coalition of cities, nonprofits and labor organizations also filed a legal challenge in Massachusetts on Monday. That suit was brought by Boston; Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Francisco; Santa Clara, California; and the National Council of Nonprofits.
Responding to the lawsuits, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said it’s unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity.
“This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children,” Kent said in a statement. “The final rule is crystal clear: the Department will enforce it neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology, or the population they serve.”
Another lawsuit challenging the rule is expected to be filed Tuesday on behalf of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights advocacy organization, the American Immigration Council and The Door, a legal group. They’re being represented by the groups Student Defense and Public Citizen.
Congress created the program in 2007 to steer more graduates into lower-paying public sector jobs. It promises to forgive their federal student loans after they make payments for 10 years while working in government jobs or for many nonprofits. More than 1 million Americans have had their loans canceled through the program, including teachers, firefighters, nurses and public defenders.
Under the new policy finalized last week, employers can be removed if they engage in activities including the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration and supporting terrorist groups. “Chemical castration” is defined as using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty — gender-affirming care common for transgender children or teens.
The education secretary gets the final say in determining whether a group’s work has an illegal purpose, weighing whether the “preponderance of the evidence” leans against them.
In their lawsuit, the states argue that entire state governments, hospitals, schools and nonprofits could unilaterally be ruled ineligible by the secretary. They say Congress granted the benefit to all government workers, with no room for the Education Department to add limits.
The states also object to the department’s reliance on the phrase “substantial illegal purpose,” saying it’s an “overbroad and impermissibly vague term” that is aimed “at chilling activities that are disfavored by this Administration.”
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the policy unlawful and forbid the Education Department from enforcing it.
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE – The U.S. Department of Education building is photographed in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The Red Hot Chili Peppers may be strongly associated with southern California, but drummer Chad Smith’s heart never left the Midwest.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who grew up in suburban Detroit, is gifting a need-based music scholarship to the University of Michigan.
“A lot of people (say), ‘The Chili Peppers, West Coast band, California this and California that.’ I get it. I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota,” Smith told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday, just hours before he made the official announcement during a surprise appearance at the Ann Arbor school’s annual Band-O-Rama event. “The Minnesota connection is strong. The Michigan connection is strong.
“And that’s why we’re here. It’s a natural, authentic fit for us.”
Smith, 64, performed the RHCP hit “Can’t Stop,” alongside the Michigan Marching Band at Hill Auditorium.
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith holds a pair of drum sticks in Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)
The Curtis & Joan Smith Scholarship, which is named in honor of Smith’s parents, will be awarded to an incoming University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance student, beginning in 2026.
The scholarship is a partnership between the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Chad Smith Foundation and comes on the heels of one with the same name launched two months ago at the University of Minnesota. Smith’s parents are Minnesota alums.
Michigan’s version of the Curtis & Joan Smith Scholarship will support incoming freshmen to the School of Music, Theatre & Dance undergraduate program who demonstrate financial need and a strong commitment to pursuing a music career. The scholarship reinforces CSF’s mission to expand access to high-quality music education and career pathways for aspiring musicians across the country.
Smith attended Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and began his career playing in clubs and bars across the Detroit area. He credits his parents with nurturing his love of music and supporting his dream to pursue it professionally.
“My mother is 98 years young. Still going. She’s here today — amazing,” Smith said. “So, to be able to honor her (and) my father unfortunately passed away, but they were so integral in helping me with my musical path.”
Smith has been with the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the late 1980s. During that time, the quartet, which also includes singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, have been one of the biggest-selling music acts, mixing layers of funk, punk, rap and traditional pop over a foundation of rock.
The backward-baseball-cap-wearing Smith has held down the beat on such hits as “Give It Away,” “Under the Bridge” and “Dani California.” The Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
“I’m fortunate to be in a band people like and I play the drums and maybe some drummers or musicians will get inspired just from my story,” Smith said. “So, yeah, it’s just an opportunity to give back to what I’ve been so lucky to have and for next generations of musicians to be able to pursue what they love.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith performs with the Michigan Marching Band in Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)
After a few easy prompts to get them started, Michele Malesyzk warns her daughter: This next one’s going to be tough.
“ANG,” says Maleszyk, emphasizing the three sounds in the one blended sound found in words like “pang” or “angry.”
Sitting atop a barstool at their kitchen countertop, 8-year-old Grace Zinczuk sticks her left index finger into a tray of sand in front of her and traces out the letters that make the sound. “A-N-G,” she writes.
Having properly matched the letters to the sound, Grace gives the tray a shake, and the black and green grains of sand fall flat again, ready for her next set of letters.
Grace, a third grader, practices these lessons with her mother most days after school in addition to her usual homework in a bid to fill a hole in Grace’s foundational literacy skills. Grace has dyslexia, a learning disability that makes reading and writing difficult, especially without explicit, direct instruction on the mechanics of reading. The hole in Grace’s literary skills exists, Malesyzk said, because of the reading curriculum used by Troy Public Schools, where Grace attended kindergarten through second grade.
Troy’s curriculum has received years of criticism, locally, across the state and the country, for its gaps in how it teaches students — especially ones with dyslexia — to learn to read. The Troy district defended its approach by noting its third graders have high reading scores on the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, with 67.9% proficiency compared with the state’s overall third grade English language arts proficiency of 38.9%.
But districts with the same or similar programs across Michigan are soon going to be forced to adopt new ways — at least in part.
The state of Michigan last year approved two new literacy laws aimed at districts like Troy that have been using programs that are not aligned with what’s known as the “science of reading.” Many districts across Michigan have already moved in that direction, focusing on equipping students with skills to “decode” words they don’t know.
School districts will have to screen children for signs of dyslexia, address lagging students’ needs with intervention methods approved by the state, and involve parents in the process of catching up students who are behind. They will also have to provide training to teachers in the science of reading.
The literacy laws’ supporters said the new requirements are a significant step toward moving Michigan’s stubbornly low literacy rates, while still balancing the state’s tradition of local control, especially in schools. But some are worried the law doesn’t go far enough.
‘I would have tried to guess the word’
While her parents have read to her regularly since she was a baby, Grace struggled to learn to read. She particularly didn’t love chapter books.
“Sometimes I didn’t really read a page,” Grace said. If she got stuck on a word she couldn’t figure out? “I would have tried to guess the word.”
Maleszyk grew up in Troy and attended Troy schools. When her family moved back to the area, she said, they chose Troy for the community and the schools.
Maleszyk, a former teacher in older elementary school grades, said she didn’t research the school’s reading curriculum when deciding where to move. She wishes she had.
Troy uses a reading curriculum called Units of Study, authored by Lucy Calkins, from the Teacher’s College at Columbia University. In the past few years, Columbia has distanced itself from the program, dissolving its professional development support efforts for the curriculum. The program, once beloved for its literature-rich materials and goal of building a love of reading in young children, has faced intense scrutiny for its gaps in explicit instruction, especially around phonics.
Some of the curriculum has been updated to include a stronger phonics piece, but multiple states with mandates to use the science of reading have not approved Calkins’ program for use, including Ohio and Tennessee.
The Troy district said in an email that it will comply with all Michigan laws, but did not commit to moving away from Calkins’ program. The district touted its high overall reading rates in third grade and noted that a review of the English language arts curriculum will begin next year.
“As part of this process, we will evaluate a variety of evidence-based resources,” director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives Kendra Montante said. “While committed to continuous improvement, the district’s literacy program is comprehensive with instruction and intervention systems fully aligned to Michigan standards.”
In June, the school board approved the purchase of Calkins’ Units of Study writing program.
Two board members dissented, saying they were aware of the criticism of Units of Study. Board member Stephanie Zendler said then the district “must begin to align all literacy instruction with the science of reading.”
“Recent revisions to the program have attempted to incorporate some of these things, but these changes still fall short of what is required for a comprehensive, research-aligned literacy framework that works for all of our students, in particular, our most at-risk learners,” Zendler said. “Adopting a curriculum that does not fully reflect this work would be a step backward at a time when we need to accelerate learning recovery and close achievement gaps.”
Last year’s test scores showed a significant achievement gap between students who are economically disadvantaged and those with disabilities. The district also had a significant racial disparity in third-grade reading proficiency. About 38% of Black students tested proficient, compared with 70% of White students and 73% of Asian students. White and Asian students make up 83% of the school’s third graders.
Board member Vital Anne, who voted for the adoption, said at the meeting she heard the concerns and was aware of the upcoming literacy laws, but that she was comfortable with the curriculum updates and that they had support from Troy’s teachers.
“No curriculum ever is perfect or complete,” Anne said.
Maleszyk said she could see the curriculum was not working for Grace.
“She would sometimes cry in the morning, not want to go to school,” Maleszyk said.
After spending over $10,000 on tutoring, buying materials to help tutor her at home and hiring an advocate to push for additional services through the Troy schools, she pulled Grace out of the district this fall. Three months in at her private Catholic school, Grace is receiving three 30-minute sessions a week to rebuild the foundational skills she missed, Maleszyk said. She loves chapter books now, especially ones about ponies and magic.
“I’m thinking like, wow, this is so much better,” Grace said.
Maleszyk said she worries that districts like Troy will continue to do a “workaround” of the law. She reached out to the Michigan Department of Education to ask how its officials would enforce the law.
“They told me that they’re going to rely on parents like me,” she said.
DeNesha Rawls-Smith, literacy unit manager at the Michigan Department of Education, emphasized that the new literacy laws are just that — laws.
“If you have a child that is not performing, then they are entitled to intervention, no matter how well your school is doing,” Rawls-Smith said. “So I would encourage them to sit down with parents and make the changes needed for that child, because that’s what the law requires. If I can’t appeal to your humanity, I’m going to appeal to what the law says.”
Eight-year-old Grace Zinczuk uses a tray of sand to help her write out letters while doing her homework in her Troy home on Oct. 16, 2025. Grace's parents moved her out of the Troy school district and to a Catholic school, where they said her literacy skills are improving. (David Guralnick/MediaNews Group)
Even successful districts, she said, are “only as successful as your most challenging student, or your student that is having the most challenges, or your teacher that is having the most challenges.”
“I think if one child is not reading, that’s a cause for us to pause and look at what we’re doing,” Rawls-Smith said. “And we don’t have any districts … that have 100% proficiency.”
Michigan avoids full mandates
About a decade ago, when state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, was a member of the state House, a mother told him about having to fight her son’s public school to get him the help he needed after being diagnosed with dyslexia.
“Her message to me was, ‘You know, not every kid’s gonna have the resources and the parent with the time and the ability to fight this fight,'” Irwin said. “‘And this is wrong. And you know, do you know anything about the science of reading, and do you know anything about dyslexia? Maybe you should.'”
The science of reading includes five main components: phonemic awareness (sounds), phonics (the connection between letters and sounds), fluency (reading text accurately), vocabulary (knowing the meaning of words), and comprehension (understanding what’s been read). It teaches students skills to figure out words they don’t know by attacking the word directly, sounding it out or using their fingers to tap out the sounds as they say them.
Previous methods of teaching, known as “whole language” or “balanced literacy,” have focused less on the explicit teaching of reading, and more on the exposure to books, and encouraging other ways of figuring out words, like looking at the pictures or other words around the one a student doesn’t know. Critics have said balanced literacy often leads more to memorization than actual reading.
Irwin and a group of literacy advocates tried over a period of years to pass legislation that would require schools to do more not just for students with dyslexia, but also those who may just need more support to learn to read.
“We tried to make this a bill that would promote literacy broadly, not just a bill that was focused on how to help kids who have characteristics of dyslexia,” he said.
In October 2024, the Michigan Legislature passed two new literacy laws, aimed at spurring growth just as new test scores showed the state ranking 44th in the nation in fourth grade reading. The laws updated what was formerly known as the Read by Grade Three Law.
The first law, Public Act 146, requires the Michigan Department of Education to create a list of high-quality instructional materials aligned with the science of reading. It also requires school districts to screen students three times a year for signs of dyslexia or any struggle to read. Districts must use a state-approved program to do the screening and support the student through intervention. Both must align with the science of reading.
The law also requires training for all teachers that hits on seven aspects of teaching reading, although no specific program or a set number of hours was required. Districts must also notify parents if a student is showing signs of struggling to read, including challenges with spelling or letter and sound recognition. The majority of the law does not take effect until fall 2027.
The second law, Public Act 147, addresses teacher training programs, requiring that future teachers receive training in the science of reading.
In the last three years, 26 states have passed laws around the science of reading, according to APM Reports. They have used a series of tools to help either strongly encourage or require districts to move away from balanced literacy programs.
Some states have opted for more stick than carrot, legislating a mandate that districts must use a curriculum vetted by their departments of education and rooted in the science of reading.
Michigan steered away from such mandates — more carrot, less stick. The state offered funding for new programs, and to use the funding, districts had to adopt from an approved list. But there is no law fully stopping districts from using a balanced literacy program, even alongside, for example, an early literacy phonics program.
Troy received state grant money to adopt UFLI, a phonics program for students in grades K-2.
rwin said Michigan could have tried to go the way of a full curriculum mandate, but a commitment to being a local-control state made that untenable.
“We need to win this battle on literacy through changing culture, through demonstrating that the right methods work,” Irwin said. “And I think that’s always going to be more important than the statutory hammer.”
But even those who strongly support the new law are worried it won’t be enough.
“It’s a problem,” Ann Arbor Public Schools board member Susan Wald-Schmidt said. “There are no teeth in this bill to say they have to do it.”
Wald-Schmidt, who worked closely with Irwin and others on the bill, said she heard from a teacher in another state — one that does have a mandate — that their district still was finding ways around the law. Even in states with “mandates,” she said, if there isn’t a penalty, there will be those unmotivated to change.
LETRS training eye-opening
David Pelc, a Romulus School District reading interventionist, created a network to support teachers. Pelc is the founder and administrator of a Facebook group called “Michigan’s Science of Reading-What I Should Have Learned in College.” It has over 4,300 members.
Teachers, parents and administrators across the state post questions, resources, strategies and trainings, providing the support that, in some cases, districts have not provided.
Pelc said before the COVID pandemic, he knew the reading strategies, especially for struggling readers, weren’t working. He looked for a new way and found people online talking about the science of reading.
“People were kind of grabbing little parts and pieces,” he said.
Once he saw the difference it made in his own students, he wanted to help pull all those pieces together and help teachers learn the baseline knowledge they need to know to teach reading.
“I’m always looking at like, ‘Why don’t they know this?’ you know?” Pelc said. “But then I’m like, I didn’t know that. How did I find out? And it’s a lot of just kind of discovering, which takes a long time, and wastes a lot of time.”
Pelc said he was encouraged to see the new literacy laws. But without proper training, not just on the science of reading but any new curriculum a district adopts, it won’t be successful, he said.
Pelc said as more districts begin to support teachers through the transition, more are looking to go deeper still. Michigan is recommending, but not requiring, all teachers who work with young students or who teach English at any age to take an intensive, 60-hour course called LETRS as a way to meet the state training requirement.
Some districts, like Detroit Public Schools Community District, have found ways to incentivize teachers to take it, paying them a $5,000 bonus. (“Don’t tell me that,” Pelc said, noting he took the training for free.)
Pelc said it was eye-opening, but he knows of some teachers who started the training and dropped out because it was difficult and time-consuming.
“I really don’t know what the answer is,” he said. “I feel like there’s got to be a way to teach this in an easier, more structured way, like to roll it out so everyone is sold on it and believes in it, you know?”
Jeff Cobb, director of government affairs for EdTrust Midwest, said the training for teachers is the key to the science of reading reaching all students, even without a mandate.
“Understand that science of reading is based in science, and it’s actually evidenced, proven, and it’s not just opinion,” Cobb said. “It’s curriculum, and it’s interventions that are that are based on things that work.”
The science of reading has been credited with what’s known in education circles as the “Southern surge,” as traditionally red states such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi — which has its own “Mississippi Miracle” slogan — find success in turning around stubbornly low reading rates. Cobb noted that in Michigan, efforts to pass the legislation were bipartisan.
“It seemed to bring people from both sides of the aisle together,” Cobb said. “And let’s face it, that’s very unusual in this political climate.”
One former Troy parent moved her family to the South, in part because of the literacy laws.
Tracy Owens said she fought for her son, who had dyslexia, to receive more services at his school in Troy. She, too, initially moved to Troy for the schools, believing they were the best.
“I realized a lot of kids were getting tutoring, and I was like, you know, we can’t afford a couple thousand dollars a month to send our kids in for tutoring,” Owens said.
When they moved to Georgia, testing showed that her daughter, a third grader who had gone to school in Troy up to that point, was reading at a level between kindergarten and first grade. Owens said she sent the results to the Troy school board.
“It’s hard for me because I’m like — I knew something was wrong,” Owens said. “… I maybe would have caught it when it was earlier, if I would have pushed a little harder.”
Michelle Maleszyk helps her 8-year-old daughter, Grace Zinczuk, with her reading in their Troy home on Oct. 16, 2025. Maleszyk said Grace struggled with the Troy school district's reading curriculum, so she spent $10,000 to address her daughter's dyslexia through tutoring and other methods. (David Guralnick/MedaiNews Group)
Detroit’s candidates for mayor are in the final weeks of their respective campaigns. City Council President Mary Sheffield and the Reverend Solomon Kinloch are working to get out their visions for the future of the city.
Jeremy Allen is the executive editor for the Michigan Chronicle. WDET’s Jerome Vaughn spoke with him about the upcoming mayoral election.
Allen says this year is unusual because Detroit voters seem to have largely made up their minds already.
“It’s pretty clear that people are either for Mary Sheffield or for Solomon Kinloch. And there are—there’s really no in-between. And so, what I’m seeing from the community is folks who are invested in this race are fully invested on one side or the other, and there’s no in-between.”
Allen says residents aren’t saying they want to read more and learn more about a candidate before making a decision about who they’ll vote for.
Key issues
As far as key issues in the race, Allen says he’s found Detroiters have a wide range of concerns about the city moving forward. Overarching issues that need solving are crime—or the perception of crime—and the tension between downtown development and development in city neighborhoods remain near the top of the list.
The future of Detroit’s school system is also something residents are keeping an eye on. While education isn’t under the purview of the city’s mayor, Allen says the next mayor should set up some sort of task force should be set up to work more closely with Detroit Public Schools Community District.
“…to ensure that the city of Detroit can educate its children to be better citizens down the road, because all research points to the fact that a better educated community has impacts down the road and all measurables for quality of life.”
Black leadership
No matter which candidate wins on November 4, Detroit will have its first Black mayor in more than a decade. Allen says that will make a difference when dealing with Detroit residents—and when dealing with the federal government.
“I think once a Black mayor assumes leadership of the city of Detroit, I think the gloves are going to come off for how the federal government looks at and talks about the city of Detroit. There will be more room for scrutiny. I think there will be much more room for just this negative tone towards the city that we haven’t seen in the last few months.”
The Michigan Chronicle has endorsed Mary Sheffield for mayor. The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press have also given their endorsements to Sheffield. Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. Early voting begins Saturday, October 25.
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Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield and the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. used their televised debate on Channel 7 to address issues and criticize each other with increasingly personal attacks.
The cost of college isn’t just measured in tuition dollars. For many students, part of the challenge is navigating the maze to get there. This is especially true for young people who are the first in their family to attend college.
Even though college is really expensive, many people are still making the case for it. Economists and educators generally cite the financial and social benefits that come with the experience.
But getting admitted to a university can be difficult, especially for first generation college students. The price tag is one thing — but so is all the bureaucracy around the application process.
Last month, Wayne State University and Detroit public schools rolled out a plan to ease that burden. The university announced that Detroit juniors with a 3.0 or higher will be automatically enrolled at Wayne State through the Warriors on the Rise program.
Cyekeia Lee is the Executive Director of the Detroit College Access Network, which helps Detroit public school students get into college. She spoke with Robyn Vincent about the potential benefits of the program.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters
Some days, it takes Elyazar Holiday two hours and four buses to travel the 20 miles from his home on the far west side of Detroit to his school on the edge of the east side of the city.
The Detroit school district has limited yellow bus service, and none for most high school students. Like many students in the city, the 17-year-old’s family doesn’t have access to a working car. Riding city buses to Davis Aerospace Technical High School is Holiday’s only option, but – with delays and missed buses – it often proves unreliable.
Last year, Holiday received a gift from his school that made the trek easier: a bicycle.
Principal Michelle Davis gave every student at the school a bike as part of a holistic approach to reducing chronic absenteeism. The bikes were funded through community donations.
Many of the nearly 100 students at Davis Aerospace last year said the bicycles helped them safely get to school by reducing the amount of time they had to walk to school or wait for buses. Others said the bikes gave them a new sense of independence, allowing them to travel around the city with their friends, get to after-school activities or jobs, and get exercise.
While Davis believes the bicycles improved attendance during good weather in the fall and spring, she said it’s only one measure the school is taking to get kids to class.
“Giving the students bikes is just one problem that we’ve solved for,” Davis told Chalkbeat. “What we do intentionally is solve for all of the problems that the kids have, because that has to be our major responsibility.”
Principal Michelle Davis poses in front of her “Big Ideas” board.
The principal wanted her students to feel the same sense of independence she did as a teen when her mother bought her a pink Huffy.
So, Davis wrote “bikes” at the top of a white board next to her desk that lists her “big ideas.” And soon the vision came to fruition.
Other high schools in the district may also soon give bikes to their students. Last school year, the district surveyed high school students who were chronically absent about why they missed too much school. Some of the students said having a bike would help improve their attendance.
After the district’s school board heard the feedback at a July meeting, some members said they wanted the superintendent to follow up on whether a stock of “dozens” of bicycles in a storage warehouse could be used for that purpose.
Can bikes reduce chronic absenteeism in Detroit?
Chronic absenteeism, defined for Michigan students as missing 10% of the school year, has long been a problem in DPSCD. Issues such as high rates of poverty, health concerns, parents’ work schedules, and unsafe routes to school keep many children from missing crucial instructional time.
Students at Davis Aerospace say the bikes have helped address some of those barriers.
A poster tracking attendance for each grade is one of the first things students see as they enter their school building.
Holiday, for example, said his bike allows him to get to bus stops more quickly.
The first bus Holiday usually rides is regularly late by 20 minutes to an hour, he said.
If that bus doesn’t come in time, the teen has to decide whether he’ll go to another stop to try and catch a bus on a different route.
“I might miss those if I walk too slow, or I might be tired from trying to run to make it there,” he said.
Now, if the bus that runs on Plymouth Road doesn’t arrive, the teen can ride his bike to another stop. Or if Holiday isn’t able to catch a transfer due to delays, he can ride his bike the rest of the way to school.
“With the bike, I can still make up the distance or go to a different street to get on a different bus and still make it there on time,” he said.
“A bike in itself is protection,” said Holiday. “You can use that to get away from the situation. You can use that as a barrier between you and something coming at you in the heat of the moment. You can even throw it.”
The bikes also help students left without a ride because their parents have to get younger kids to school earlier in the morning.
Myron Dean, a senior at Davis Aerospace, said while his parents take his five younger siblings to their schools, he has to get to school on his own.
With a bike, Dean can get to school in about seven minutes.
Dean is also using the bike to get to driver’s education classes so he can eventually drive himself and his siblings anywhere they need to go.
Junior Tryve Roberts said when no one in his family was able to give him a ride, he used to have to walk to school. It took about an hour, which would make him tardy.
Now, since he can get to school on the bike in about 16 minutes, he’s showing up on time more often.
Some research and anecdotal evidence in other parts of the country suggest bicycles alone may reduce chronic absenteeism. Those who support the idea say using bikes to get to school gives more students access to transportation they otherwise wouldn’t have, can improve their health and well-being, and adds motivation for kids to improve attendance.
However, the successful examples proponents cite are in parts of the country with warmer climates, such as Florida, Tennessee, and Arizona.
At Davis Aerospace, the students are taught bike safety and instructed to not ride to school in poor weather conditions or during the winter.
There are nearly 165 miles of bike lanes in the city, according to advocacy groups, but not every neighborhood in the city has access to continuous dedicated bike paths.
At Davis Aerospace, the chronic absenteeism rate dropped by more than 14 percentage points last school year compared to 2023-24. Since 2018-19, the chronic absenteeism rate at the school fell by nearly 23 percentage points.
Even with that progress, more than 42% of Davis Aerospace students missed too many days of school last year. And the problem is more persistent in the district’s neighborhood schools.
For example, Denby High School, which is also on the east side of the city, had a chronic absenteeism rate of nearly 80% last year.
Some of Davis Aerospace’s progress may be due in part to the bikes, but the school had already been making steady progress in reducing absenteeism before that program.
“What we know is that there’s not just one thing that’s going to decrease absenteeism,” said Davis. “Every kid that has a barrier for attendance, we talk to those students. We see what the barriers are, and we solve for the student and their challenge to getting to school.”
Students can pick out any items they want from the school’s free boutique.
At the school, which requires an application for students to attend, reducing absenteeism is ingrained in the culture.
A poster hanging on a brick wall by the school entrance tracks the daily attendance rate of each grade. Students who miss two days or fewer in the class with the highest attendance each month get rewards like cookies, nachos, or a movie day.
A room on the first floor of the school looks like a clothing boutique, except the clothes “for sale” are all marked “100% free.” Kids can grab the things they need to show up to school, like winter coats, gloves, and new shoes.
In another space, kids can get the hygiene products they need to show up ready to learn. There’s also a washer and dryer in the school where students can clean their clothes.
Davis said there are discussions around creating a parent carpool for kids who live near each other.
‘A form of freedom’
The gift of the bikes was not simply a pragmatic attempt to reduce absenteeism, said Davis. It was an act of love.
“When you’re a teenager, bikes are your first form of transportation, right?” Davis said. “It gives you a form of freedom. You explore the world with your bike.”
Students Elyazar Holiday, Savannah Robinson, Ciana Carter, and Myron Dean pose with bikes in front of Davis Aerospace.
Junior Roderic Pippen said his bike helped him find a new hobby.
“I like to adventure on the bike – find new places to be at,” he said. “My bike trips are more fun than just sitting in the car, scrolling on the internet.”
Holiday will use his bike this year to attend biweekly events by the Midnight Golf Program, a mentorship and college readiness nonprofit.
Before they got bikes, seniors Savannah Robinson and Ciana Carter felt stuck at home during summer breaks because their parents were busy with work.
Last summer, the girls had the freedom to ride to meet up and go to places like the beauty supply store and restaurants.
“Anytime she had a bad day over summer, I’d be like, come on, girl, let’s go ride our bikes and get fresh air,” said Robinson. “So it’s really helpful for both of us.”
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Michigan’s new budget will channel $203 million toward increasing the compensation of public school employees, a move supporters are hailing as a win for the state’s teachers.
The Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate approved the new annual funding proposal for state operations early Friday morning. It is expected to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the coming days.
Embedded within one of the bills was a provision to repurpose $203 million that had been previously allocated to provide financial assistance to educators who were repaying student loans, but which had gone unused.
Now, the dollars will be given to schools “to increase compensation” for employees and the pay bumps must be on top of “any existing compensation negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement” between a school district and union representing educators or support staff, according to the budget blueprint.
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said the $225 million student loan forgiveness program, authorized in 2023, didn’t work as he intended and he wanted the dollars to now be used for financial relief for school employees who are facing rising health care costs.
“It was important to put more money back in the pockets of our educators,” Camilleri said.
In addition to teachers, the new initiative will benefit a wide array of school employees covered by union contracts, including librarians, counselors, social workers, custodians, bus drivers and literacy coaches, according to the bill.
Camilleri, a former teacher and the top Senate Democrat on the K-12 budget, said it will be up to districts and local unions to negotiate how the money will be handed out.
There will likely be one-time payments to staff at some point this school year, Camilleri said.
Somewhere around 381,000 people work for K-12 schools in Michigan, according to state data. It’s not clear how many of them would qualify for the new compensation. If they all did, which is not likely, and everyone got the same amount, an individual would receive $532.
“It should be a good one-time bonus,” Camilleri said.
The Michigan Education Association, which represents school staff in many districts across the state, touted the $203 million allocation in a statement on the budget Friday.
“Most critically, it provides $200 million in funding to directly put money in the paychecks of public school employees — whose pay increases are being consumed by skyrocketing out-of-pocket health insurance costs,” said Chandra Madafferi, president and CEO of the state’s largest teacher union.
4th grade reading and writing teacher Stephen Taft, interacts with his students during a geology lesson in class at Riddle Elementary on Feb. 10 in Lansing. Educators across the state are poised to share a portion of $203 million in state funding aimed at boosting pay for public school employees and offsetting rising health care premiums. (Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News)
The City of Dearborn says new absentee ballots will be mailed to residents after a printing error was discovered.
City Clerk George Darany says the original ballots included the name of a city council candidate who dropped out of the race.
Darany says people should throw away the old ballot and fill out the new one. Voters who have already submitted their ballot or those who do not send in the correct ballot will have their ballot ‘duplicated’—which does not mean counted twice.
“So in other words, we will have two people assigned to remove the ballot and put it into the duplicate new ballot, so everything they chose would be transferred to the new ballot,” says Darany.
Voters should receive the new ballots in the next ten days.
Early voting begins in Dearborn October 25.
Additional headlines for Thursday, October 2, 2025
Mosques encouraged to increase security
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Michigan chapter is encouraging local mosques to step up protection after an individual threatened to burn down a mosque in Dearborn Heights this week.
CAIR Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid says he’s concerned in light of the political climate and the attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc on Sunday.
“We encourage all mosques in the state of Michigan to review the care community safety kit an to make sure that they have the property security measures for the Friday congressional prayers.”
Walid says he hopes Dearborn Heights Police investigate the threats at The Islamic Institute of America as a potential hate crime.
He says several mosques in Michigan have received threats in recent weeks.
Detroit Public Schools fills District Board of Education seat
The Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education voted not to start a lengthy selection process to fill a vacant seat and will instead offer the seat to the runner up of the last special election.
Current board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo is expected to resign and start as the city of Detroit’s next Ombudsman.
During a special meeting the board recommended leveraging the finalist from the July 2025 vacancy process, because it has been less than 90 days since a thorough, transparent, and public search was conducted.
Local business pitch competition
The Arab American Women’s Business Council and the New Economy Initiative are announcing their 2025 Pitch Competition. Local Small Businesses and entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas and compete for seed money. Cash prizes between $1000 and $3000, and a grand prize of $5000 will be offered.
The application deadline is October 17. Eligible applicants must be in the ideation phase or have a business less than five years old.
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It’s the home stretch for Detroit City Council candidates with election day only about a month away.
On the city’s northeast side incumbent Scott Benson faces a challenge from a life-long resident of Council District 3, Cranstana Anderson.
She’s a former UAW local official and administrator who works from home preparing taxes.
Anderson says she wants to change how city government operates on the eastside.
Listen: Detroit Council candidate Cranstana Anderson says she can represent struggling residents—she’s one too
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Cranstana Anderson: For instance, the rainfall sewage fee. They call it a fee but it’s actually a tax. If people want to build around their homes and they put more cement down, there is nowhere to absorb the rainwater. So your drainage fees are higher. A lot of churches experienced it because they made parking lots or created more sidewalks. Anything that is not grass or trees to absorb, that rainfall becomes an additional charge.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: If you were elected to council, how would you address those kind of problems?
CA: I would first have to see how we get out of something that we got into. I really believe Detroit not having control over the water has led to these types of actions by leadership. The water bill used to be less than what it is every month now, even every three months. So, it seems like that’s a long-term consequence of them giving control of it to the Great Lakes Water Authority.
QK: There’s been a lot of talk about a “financial cliff” that Detroit could be facing because federal funding and some other money is running out. Some of the mayoral candidates have talked about increasing revenue by perhaps raising certain taxes on things like events downtown. Do you think that that’s a way to go?
CA: I do believe that we’ve given out enough tax abatements and incentives for those businesses downtown to be a contributor into paying a higher tax, if that’s what’s going to help the neighborhoods. Because originally, that’s what downtown was getting built up for. It was to change the dynamics of the way downtown looked, to change the dynamics of economic growth in Detroit and build-up downtown. But it was also supposed to contribute to building up the residential communities, making sure those who have retired, bought their home, worked their 30 years, are not left out. And that’s what we want to focus on, not leaving those who have already paved the way for us to stabilize the community be forced out by business or investors. I believe in gentrification versus nullification. So if it’s nothing, then gentrification sounds pretty good when it’s nothing.
QK: I still hear lots of concerns about crime, not just on the northeast side, but throughout the city. If you were on council, how would you try and help address that?
CA: I would try to create some different policies about how we retain our public safety officers. I believe when they were given the option to live outside of Detroit, that’s when we had more crime created. The crime rate is just at a flat line right now. I don’t see the quality of policing in Detroit, in my area and in many other areas, the way it used to be. When I grew up, relying on police was the route to go to keep the community safe. But now, to engage with them, to build a certain amount of trust with them, and have none of our officers that want to live in Detroit, that says a lot about their policing.
There’s a lot that needs to be done. But I want to make sure we look right.
QK: You’ve mentioned that you’d like to see more political accountability. Do you think that’s lacking at the moment with some of the Detroit officials?
CA: Yes, especially mine, in my district. I think we’ve compromised our office.
QK: You’re talking about Detroit City Council member Scott Benson. There had been some allegations made about bribery charges. But federal authorities said that they had closed that case. And Benson said he and his staff came up completely clean. So, in your view, wouldn’t that kind of clean his slate in terms of that?
CA: No, not with me. Because I’m analytical. I’m from Detroit. And I know everybody who is in prison is not guilty and some of those who are guilty are still walking around.
QK: In any political campaign it is often hard to beat an incumbent. And you’re the challenger in this one. What do you say to people in District 3 if they ask why they should vote for you for council?
CA: Because I understand exactly the hardships that they’re going through. I am a person that’s just like them. And I will fight harder for them. The people who live there, who built there, who are maintaining their property and shopping in that area, doing business in that area, should be entitled to good service. There needs to be some type of resources made available that help these residents qualify for the investors that we want to come into our community.
As far as jobs go, you have the Work First program. But the jobs pay minimum wages, $15-$16 an hour. That’s just not a fair wage. We’re supposed to live off 30% of our income. How do we manage that? Affordable housing is $1,200 and your wages are $1,500. What does that calculate up to? That calculates up to a struggle.
One of the things that hasn’t been invested in is the blighted buildings in my community. A lot of schools shut down. And no one’s talking about doing anything with them except maybe utilizing them as training spots for the police or other public safety departments. These are buildings in the community that used to educate. And we believe, not just myself but a lot of residents, that we can turn these buildings into community hubs where they teach about things like drones, auto mechanics. We don’t want those buildings torn down. We want to utilize those buildings to put back into the education system what they took away. Creative arts. Let the residents, the children, tap into their natural talents or introduce them to the skills that they don’t know they have. Those are places that we can renovate and make into state-of-the art facilities. To make sure that we have the resources not 50 miles from us, not across town, but right here in our own community, where our children can actually walk to school. There’s a lot that needs to be done.
But I want to make sure we look right, so that we don’t invite the wrong type of activity into the community. Get rid of what we do have that’s not a positive influence in our community. Our children are becoming a product of their environment. We say we want to help them, but we have an overpopulation of alcohol stores. We have a population of marijuana dispensaries. It’s legal and a lot of people voted for it because they were tired of people going to jail for marijuana, which is understandable. But it’s something we need to go back to the drawing board about to make sure that it’s regulated properly, that our children don’t have such easy access to it. It’s really hurting us. And in order to build a community up, you have to eliminate the things that take them down.
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Funding for arts and culture grants in Michigan is preserved in the state budget for fiscal year 2026.
Last week, Governor Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and House Speaker Matt Hall announced they had agreed on a framework for the state budget and it would be passed before October 1. The state budget was passed early Friday morning, with state funding for arts and culture grants preserved.
Last month’s budget proposal passed by the Republican-led State House eliminated all funding for arts and culture grants from the state.
The entity that administers arts and culture grants for the state is the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). In 2025, MACC grants awarded totaled over $10.5 million.
The council distributes grant funds to arts and culture programs throughout the state, providing funding for things like K-12 arts programs, cultural festivals and museums.
To better understand what arts and culture grants from the state fund, Cary Junior II spoke with Lauren Ward, director of the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan. They spoke on Thursday, before the final state budget had been passed for fiscal year 2026.
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Rochester Christian University will feature the inauguration of Reggies Wenyika as its 11th president on Oct. 23rd and 24th.
Inaugural activities begin with a Community Blessing Service at 7 p.m.on Thursday, Oct. 23 in the Westside Central Chapel.
The official inauguration will occur at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 24,in the Alumni Center and later that day, an alumni reception will be held at 6 p.m. in the Gallaher Welcome Center.
“I’m deeply honored and excited for the journey ahead. I look forward to working together as we strive to elevate RCU to new heights,” Wenyika said when he was named to the position back in March.. “This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with the entire university community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and partners as we collectively enhance the student experience, and foster innovation through a vibrant and values-driven transformative campus culture. Together, we can continue to make RCU a destination for many, from the region, nation and beyond.”
Wenyika started at RCU on June 1, 2025 and previously served as president of Ottawa University Kansas from 2018 to 2024 and of Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma, from 2014 to 2018.
He earned his Doctor of Education degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is currently pursuing another doctorate in ethnomedicine and indigenous knowledge systems from Chinhoyi University of Technology in Zimbabwe. He also holds degrees from Southwestern Christian University, Logos University and the University of Zimbabwe.
He will replace Brian Stogner who resigned in 2024 to become president of the Michigan School of Psychology in Farmington Hills.
For more information, go to rcu.edu/inauguration.
Wenyika will replace Brian Stogner who resigned last year to become president of the Michigan School of Psychology.
photo courtesy RCU
Detroit Outdoors has taken a group of students and teachers to Yosemite National Park for the second time.
The Detroit to Gloryland journey is designed to introduce youth to outdoor activities like camping and rock climbing and pick up on some history.
The group travels to Yosemite in late July so they are in there during National Buffalo Soldier Day, and within reach of the park system’s expert on the history of Buffalo Soldiers in the park.
Shelton Johnson is a native Detroiter, an alum of Cass Technical High School and a park ranger. He has worked to collect the narratives of the Black and other non-white soldiers who served as Yosemite’s first rangers and share their individual and collective stories.
Park ranger Shelton Johnson helps guide the Gloryland students and teach them the park’s history.
WDET’s Sascha Raiyn got to travel with the students both years. You can hear stories from the first Detroit to Gloryland trip and learn more about Shelton Johnson in 2024 here.
‘Gloryland’ veterans speak
Jaiden Nedd, Cameron Thomas and Arcia Quinn in Yosemite.
Listen: ‘Gloryland’ veterans speak
It was Cass Tech High School Junior Tiffany Orr’s first-time camping and first-time in Yosemite. She interviewed the three students who came on the trip for a second time: Jaiden Nedd, Cameron Thomas and Arcia Quinn.
Expressing Yosemite: a poet’s guide to being in nature
Poet and author Jacqueline Suskind traveled to Yosemite with the students.
Listen: Expressing Yosemite: a poet’s guide to being in nature
Poet and author Jacqueline Suskind traveled with the students. Suskind’s work focuses on her relationship to nature – and on teaching others to explore their own relationships to nature — through writing.
Students had an inside guide to Yosemite this year
Listen: Students had an inside guide to Yosemite this year
Students learned some photography skills from professional Rodel Fessehatzion.
Robel Fessehatzion is a landscape photographer who works at and with Yosemite National Park.
He met the students who traveled from Detroit to Yosemite on the 2024 trip.
This year, Fessehatzion introduced the students to the people, places and history that shape his relationship to Yosemite.
He also gave them a little lesson in landscape photography.
A look at how Detroit Outdoors gets it done
Moving more than 20 people across the country to camp is a big undertaking.
Listen: A look at how Detroit Outdoors gets it done
Moving more than 20 people across the country to camp — many for the first time — is a big undertaking. We take a look at the logisitcs of the trip.
‘Gloryland’ first-timers speak
Pershing student Eva Effinger and Hamtramck High grad Nora Algahaim in Yosemite.
Listen: ‘Gloryland’ first-timers speak
Sascha Raiyn gave her recorder to Pershing student Eva Effinger and Hamtramck High grad Nora Algahaim. They interviewed each other — on the one night the campers had very loud neighbors. They talked about their first camping experience and starting the trip not feeling so well.
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Suzanne McAtee has attended the classes offered through Munson Hospital’s Fruit and Vegetables Prescription Program since they began five years ago.
At 93, she credits the program — through which doctors prescribe diet education as a treatment for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure — with helping her manage her health.
“I have stage-five kidney disease. My next step is dialysis,” McAtee said. “I have controlled this through my diet, which is very important to me, and that’s the other reason I pay particular attention to everything I eat.”
Come month’s end, the class may not exist.
The class is led for free by educators who are part of the federally funded SNAP-Education program, which partners with more than 33,000 organizations nationwide to promote healthy eating, physical activity, and better food access. In Michigan, two agencies — Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Fitness Foundation — operate SNAP-Ed programs in places such as schools, senior centers, and food pantries.
Funding cuts
Congress slashed funding for SNAP-Ed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year. More than 120 MSU Extension health educators will lose their jobs across Michigan this month, and the Michigan Fitness Foundation is in the process of sunsetting some of its programs into next year.
Sarah Eichberger, a Traverse City SNAP-Ed educator, disagreed that that was proof SNAP-Ed programs failed. Rather, she said, that highlights how large the American health crisis really is.
“How can you now say one underfunded federal nutrition program is responsible for not making our entire country healthy?” Eichberger said. “We live in a country where there are systems and structures that prevent people from being healthy.”
Michigan’s share of the SNAP-Ed budget
Of the SNAP-Ed budget — $536 million in fiscal year 2025 — Michigan received $27 million and relied on that funding more than any other state of its size — with only California, New York and Pennsylvania receiving more funding.
Much of the work done by SNAP-Ed, according to Eichberger, is behind the scenes, like securing grants for its 1,000 community partners. Those partnerships allowed the program to stretch its budget further and reach more people.
How can you now say one underfunded federal nutrition program is responsible for not making our entire country healthy? We live in a country where there are systems and structures that prevent people from being healthy.
—SNAP-Ed educator Sarah Eichberger
Two years ago, Eichberger helped launch a program to deliver boxes of locally grown fruits and vegetables to daycares across 32 counties. That initiative, made possible through outside grants, relied on the network of SNAP-Ed staff working directly with child care providers to offer expertise and support.
The loss of SNAP-Ed, Eichberg said, is not just health and nutrition classes going away. It’s the loss of an entire network of people and partnerships working to create healthy systems and programs.
“If you can get people to be healthier, if you can prevent Type 2 diabetes, heart disease… that’s so much more impactful than some of these things the conversation has been moving more towards,” said Eichberger.
Eichberger worries about the long-term effects, especially as fewer people will have access to food stamps and health care coverage.
“Less people are going to be able to access food stamps. There’ll be less access (to) health care coverage,” Eichberger said. “We haven’t fully seen the impact yet… but it will be significant.”
Hopes for new funding
Patti Tibaldi, the project manager for SNAP-Ed at Traverse City Area Public Schools through the Michigan Fitness Foundation, had to let go of four staff members when funding was cut earlier this year. However, she may be able to bring them back if new funding becomes available.
The US Department of Agriculture recently opened a new grant for SNAP-Ed programs, although with reduced funding. The grant is meant to sunset the program, Tibaldi said, and will only last until next summer. Many organizations, Tibaldi said, have chosen not to pursue it.
For now, Tibaldi and the few remaining SNAP-Ed programs are waiting to find out about that USDA grant — and see if they have just one year left.
“We’re going to try to hang in there — whatever little thing we can do to help these families and the kids,” said Tibaldi. “I think it’s very shortsighted to lose the focus on how important it is for kids and families to learn healthy habits.”
This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, a project led by Interlochen Public Radio and Bridge Michigan, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s top public schools official who lauded President Donald Trump, pledged to put a Turning Point USA chapter in every high school to honor Charlie Kirk and end what he called “wokeness” in public schools, is resigning to lead a conservative educators’ group.
Walters, 40, said Wednesday night on Fox News that he is stepping down as state superintendent of public instruction to become the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that says it assists educators “in their mission to develop free, moral, and upright American citizens.”
“We’re going to destroy the teachers unions,” Walters said on Fox. “We have seen the teachers unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools.”
Walters has leaned into culture-war politics and sought to infuse religion into classroom instruction, including a mandate that public schoolteachers incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in grades 5 though 12.
He has also tried to require social studies teachers to promote conspiracies about the 2020 election, track the immigration status of children in schools and require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam designed to safeguard what he described as “radical leftist ideology.” Many of his efforts have led to lawsuits against him and the agency, even as Oklahoma’s national ranking in several education metrics has continued to decline.
Just Tuesday, Walters announced that Oklahoma high schools will have Turning Point USA chapters. He said parents, teachers and students “want their young people to be engaged in a process that understands free speech, open engagement, dialogue about American greatness, a dialogue around American values.”
Kirk founded the organization to mobilize young, Christian conservatives. It has seen a massive surge in interest and support since the activist’s assassination on Sept. 10.
Walters, a former teacher, was elected to the superintendent’s job. He had served as Oklahoma Secretary of Education from September 2020 to April 2023. He was appointed to that position by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Ever since then, “we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama,” Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond said in a statement.
“It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools,” Drummond, a Republican and candidate for governor in 2026, said.
FILE – Ryan Walters, Republican candidate for Oklahoma State Superintendent, speaks at a rally, Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Detroit has a new coalition fighting for its creative future.
The Detroit Partnership for Arts Education is a cross-sector coalition, supported by Detroit public schools, health leaders, philanthropists and artists. Its mission is to connect more young people with music, media, and the arts.
The initiative is employing a three-prong approach meant to connect students with arts programs with an online navigator, set a vision and benchmarks for arts education in Detroit, and gather data to support a well-funded and accountable system.
A number of leaders in the arts in Detroit are joining the partnership.
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The group Dearborn Wants Wards has been pushing for districted elections in Dearborn. The measure is now officially on the ballot as Proposal 1 in the general election in November.
Mona Mawari is a community organizer for the Dearborn Wants Wards. She says the group had to go to court after submitting more than 8,000 signatures for the petition.
“To ensure that the the proposal was going to be on the ballot in November, we had followed up with the city multiple times and weren’t getting a clear answer and a clear response.”
Mawari says Dearborn Wants Wards volunteers are campaigning door-to-door and organizing town halls and phone banks to spread the word about the measure. The group says districted elections would provide better representation for the city’s east and south sides.
Additional headlines from Monday, August 22, 2025
Neighborhood Business Lab
ProsperUs Detroit and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services or ACCESS are hosting a Neighborhood Business Lab in October. The team will provide business insights to area residents.
The neighborhood lab takes place in two time slots: on October 1st from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. OR 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the ACCESS Hamtramck office, 9301 Joseph Campau Avenue in Hamtramck.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Dearborn’s Esper Library to be Children’s Exploration and STEAM center
Dearborn is creating a state-of-the-art children’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics or STEAM Center. It will be located at the city’s Esper Library at 12929 Warren Avenue.
The library will offer robotics, music, art, and engineering activities. It will also include hands-on STEAM discovery zones, technology and a podcast studio.
Construction began this past weekend.
Detroit Fire Dept. Appoints Jamal Mickles as chief
Detroit Executive Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms, has appointed Captain Jamal Mickles as the Chief of the Detroit Fire Department Training Division.
Mickles has 20 years of experience. He began his work with the department through the DFD’s Fire Cadet Program. He was assigned to Engine 51, later serving at Engine 57, Ladder 14, Ladder 26 and the Fire Investigation Division, before becoming a fire instructor and training leader.
Mickles served as a Lieutenant at the academy, overseeing the firefight apprenticeship program which gives Detroiters a pathway to a career in public safety. He also rebuilt the Regional Training Center gym which was used to train more than 200 firefighters across Michigan. Last year as captain, Mickles launched the DFD Paramedic Training Program to train firefighters to deliver advanced pre-hospital medical care.
He is replacing Chief Alfie Green, who retired after 34 years with the Detroit Fire Department.
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Wayne State University President Kimberly Espy is resigning. That’s according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Espy has reportedly been under pressure from the school’s board of governors to step down. In recent weeks, there’s been criticism about the unexplained decision to place the dean of Wayne State’s Medical School on leave.
A story by the Detroit News says the Interim Med School Dean resigned because his appointment did not follow proper channels. Espy was also criticized for not fully engaging in the Detroit community. She did not appear at an event on campus earlier this week to announce a program to make it easier for DPSCD high school students to attend Wayne State. Espy became the President of the university in August 2023.
A Wayne State Board of Governors’ meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 5 p.m.
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