Most everyone wants students to have good teachers. But how do we adequately prepare educators, and keep them in the profession?

That’s a pressing question as teacher retention drops in Michigan. And it’s the most pressing in school districts with more poverty. 

Ten years ago, only a handful of Michigan school districts reported permanent teaching vacancies. Today, that number has exploded: more than 150 districts now have jobs they can’t fill.

Some in the state are trying to fix this. 

Jack Elsey leads the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative. His nonprofit is launching a collaboration with some public universities in the state to change the way teachers are trained, and to keep them in the field. He spoke with Robyn Vincent.

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Detroit has a lot of needs, including things like bus transit, policing and security, and trash pickup. Those things cost money — money that can be difficult to come up with in a city of relative poverty. 

But with more people spending time in Detroit, and even moving to the city, it also has more opportunity to raise revenue. 

The Citizens Research Council investigated whether a sales tax could benefit residents by generating $72 million a year. Madhu Anderson is the council’s senior research associate for local government affairs. She believes a sales tax isn’t a great idea, but offered other possible ways Detroit could raise revenue. Anderson spoke with The Metro‘s Sam Corey.

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Affordability. That’s the word that’s been buzzing around politics. 

In November, Democrats across the country won on the promise of reducing the cost of living. 

But it’s not just liberals that are embracing an “affordability agenda.” Conservatives and libertarians are latching on as well. 

Jarrett Skorup is the vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which appreciates the free market and criticizes government regulation. 

In this conversation, The Metro‘s Sam Corey spoke with him about why he thinks unregulated capitalism can help free people from the burden of rising costs.

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To counter President Donald Trump’s agenda, liberals aren’t discussing democracy. They’re talking about the issue of affordability.

Last year, Congressional Democrats fought a previous budget bill on the grounds that peoples’ healthcare costs would rise if it passed. In November, Democrats ran across the country — and won — on reducing the cost of living. Last month, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled a plan to make America more affordable. 

But what, exactly, is an affordability agenda? And how are politicians trying to resolve the affordability crisis?

EJ Dionne is a New York Times opinion writer, a professor at Georgetown University, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

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Many have been actively engaging and organizing against federal immigration enforcement and the killings of Americans at the hands of immigration agents.

It’s been true in Minneapolis, where thousands have taken to the streets. And it’s spread from there to Detroit and many other places across the nation.

Scenes in America this past weekend harkened back to the civil rights era with people taking to the streets, students walking out of class, and businesses shutting down for a national day of protest against ICE and the Trump administration. 

All these actions have us wondering: How effective have anti-ICE protests been so far? And when exactly is a protest successful?

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is a professor of constitutional law at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She’s also the author of “A Protest History of the United States.” She joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

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Of all the architects in Detroit, one of the best known may be Albert Kahn. He designed some of the city’s most treasured buildings, including the Belle Isle Conservancy, the Fisher Building, and the Detroit Athletic Club. 

Even still, a lot of people don’t know that much about Kahn. They don’t know how or why his work changed architecture in Detroit, or any of his design preferences. 

Chris Meister is the author of the new book, “Albert Kahn’s Daylight: An Architect Reconsidered.” He spoke with The Metro’s Sam Corey about why much of Kahn’s work prioritized natural light.

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Over the past decade, homelessness has been down in Oakland County. But in the last three years, it’s been trending up again. 

The 2024 point-in-time count found that about 1,700 people were homeless in Oakland County. 

Last week, the locality conducted its latest count while Wayne County had one on Wednesday. We don’t have the official results from either count yet, but, according to Ryan Hertz, the number of families that are homeless is growing, even as chronically homeless individuals are getting housing more often.

The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with the CEO and president of the anti-poverty organization, Lighthouse, to learn more.

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Yesterday, President Donald Trump said he is going to “de-escalate a little bit” in Minnesota. But the protests against ICE in that state have continued as federal officers have remained on the ground.

One of the larger demonstrations in Minneapolis occurred last Friday. That’s when businesses closed and thousands of people took to the streets. It was also the day before Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents. 

Interim Executive Director for The Detroit Jews for Justice Lisa Tencer was in Minneapolis on Friday. The Metro‘s Sam Corey spoke with her about why she went, and what she saw.

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It’s been less than a month since Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield took office, but she’s already begun putting her agenda into motion.

Her administration is creating a new Office of Neighborhood & Community Safety  and establishing new departments aimed at reducing poverty. The administration has also brought Rx Kids a program that gives cash to new mothers, to the city.  

Why did Sheffield’s office make these changes? And what does she hope to accomplish in her first year?

David Bowser is Mayor Sheffield’s chief of staff. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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In the Republican-controlled House, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill banning cell phones in charter and public schools with strong bipartisan support. Now it’s headed to the Michigan Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

Many school districts in the state already have phone bans and restrictions. But this recent vote in the state House was significant. A similar bill didn’t pass the same chamber last summer. Inaction was a theme last legislative session as lawmakers in Lansing passed the fewest number of bills on record.

What changed? And, what other bills might the legislature be able to pass along bipartisan lines this session?

Mark Tisdel is a Republican representing Rochester Hills and the sponsor of the cell phone ban bill. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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At the federal level, democracy is on its heels in America. 

President Donald Trump has violated national and international laws by kidnapping Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to breach residents’ civil liberties, including killing an individual in Minnesota, and by sending military troops to cities that have not requested them.

But at the local level, despite weak participation, officials say democracy is strong, that the trash is getting picked up on time, and that services are being properly distributed, especially in more urban areas. 

That’s what Stephanie Leiser found in a recent survey of Michigan municipal leaders. She’s the Director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, and a lecturer at University of Michigan. The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with Leiser to learn more.

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Safety continues to improve in Detroit. 

Recent numbers suggest that homicides fell well below 200 last year. That was the first time that happened in six decades. 

There are a number of things that are given credit for the decline. Community violence interventionists who are preventing harm, and police officers that focus on de-escalation and complete their homicide investigations. It can also be attributed to increased surveillance with things like Project Green Light. 

Now, Mayor Mary Sheffield is creating an Office of Neighborhood & Community Safety, which will focus on mental health issues, after-school programs and resident access to jobs to further increase safety. 

What exactly will the office do? And why is a holistic approach needed to increase resident safety?

Shantay Jackson is the Director of the National Offices of Violence Prevention Network at the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, which will help establish Detroit’s office. She spoke with The Metro‘s Sam Corey.

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When the police make a mistake, who is around to hold them accountable? Sometimes it’s courts and attorneys. 

But in many American cities, including those here in Michigan, there are civilian oversight boards. These boards do various things, including investigating civilian complaints, making disciplinary recommendations, and auditing police departments. 

The Detroit Board of Police of Commissioners was established in the 1970s after widespread claims of police abuse. Today, after the murder of George Floyd and increased scrutiny of police, more pressure is on police commissioners to hold officers accountable and to make policing work for everyone. 

Just before the new year, Detroit welcomed four new people to its Board of Police Commissioners, including Victoria Camille. She is the District 7 commissioner. 

Why did she run for the position? How can policing improve in Detroit? And, what does she make of the role of policing in society?

Commissioner Camille joined Cary Junior II on The Metro to discuss.

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Ford is changing tactics again. 

Last month, the company decided to pivot from its electric vehicle plans, and into hybrid cars and gas engines. The biggest signal was the phasing out of the all-electric F-150 Lightning.

That’s a big shift from four years ago when Ford said it wanted to make EVs account for 40% of their global sales by 2030. 

Why are they pivoting again? And, what is the future for Ford and other automakers?

Paul Eisenstein is a contributing editor for Headlight.News and a contributor to dozens of media outlets, including Japan’s Nikkei. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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Artificial intelligence is already shaping daily life, whether we’re ready or not. That’s caused celebration and concern. 

It’s reducing the work we do, helping us find answers more quickly, and some research suggests it has strong capabilities to diagnose illness, perhaps better than doctors.

But the rise of AI is also accompanied by pessimism and fear. Jobs could be taken and never replaced; our loneliness could worsen; and scholars say our critical thinking abilities are already degrading.

Some of these concerns are the context for opposition to data centers. Those spaces house and advance artificial intelligence, and many don’t want them in their backyards. 

In Monroe and Kalamazoo Counties, there’s been pushback, which has might permanently delay the creation of data centers there. In Saline, many are unhappy about a center planned for the area. 

All of this is happening after Wayne State officially opened its own AI research center in October. 

Ezemenari Obasi is the Vice President for Research & Innovation at Wayne State University and heads the university’s Institute for AI and Data Science.

The Metro‘s Sam Corey spoke with him about why he believes AI can help us solve some of our biggest problems.

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Michigan’s economy is in flux.

Tariffs have pushed up the cost of some goods. Unemployment has ticked up slightly. Hiring practices are shifting as artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT become more prevalent in workplaces.

Those changes raise big questions for the state’s more than 900,000 small businesses — and the workers who depend on them. How are owners adapting to rising costs and new technologies? What does this moment feel like on the ground? And what should people be doing now to stay resilient?

To explore those questions, Mark Lee, founder of The Lee Group, sat down with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent. Lee hosts several talk shows and writes about business and the economy for Crain’s Detroit, with a focus on how national trends play out locally.

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