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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The University of Michigan will partly finance faculty research projects amid cuts to federal research funding, the university said.
The research funding program will begin this month and support projects across all three UM campuses — Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint, according to the announcement Friday in the University Record, a university-run faculty-staff news source. The program is meant to provide short-term support to help maintain research continuity, support research staff and remain competitive for future outside funding, UM said in the article.
A similar but separate program will be run through the university’s medical school.
“This program is not intended to replace federal funding or create a long-term safety net,” said Arthur Lupia, vice president for research and innovation in the article. “It is a targeted, one-time investment to help outstanding U-M researchers transition in a time of change and continue to do important work that serves the people of Michigan and the world.”
Researchers in charge of projects, known as principal investigators, can request up to one year of partial support under the program, the university said. Researchers can apply for up to 35% of the average annual direct cost that was originally requested in the researcher’s federal proposal, with a maximum of $150,000 per year. Central university support will cover up to half of the research cost, with the rest covered by the researcher’s school, college or unit.
All money must be spent at UM, the university said.
UM is among the nation’s top public universities in research spending. In 2024, UM’s annual research expenditures reached a record $2.04 billion — of that amount, federal funding accounted for $1.17 billion, for over half of the university’s total.
UM anticipates receiving $163 million less from the federal government through fiscal year 2026, budget projections approved by the Board of Regents in June show.
Michigan State University announced a similar funding program last April, called the Jenison Fund. The fund would provide strategic, targeted, time-limited assistance to graduate students who have lost funding and to faculty members experiencing disruptions in research funding, according to MSU.
Michigan State President Kevin Guskiewicz said a total of up to $5 million annually for the next three years would be allocated to the fund.
To date, the fund has awarded resources to 35 projects, MSU spokesperson Amber McCann said.
In October, Guskiewicz announced that 74 federally funded projects at MSU were ended by the federal government, with a multiyear impact estimated at $104 million. At the time, 86 projects were paused or affected by stop-work orders.
A flag blows in the wind atop the Michigan Union on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emily Elconin)
The first time Patrick Thaw saw his University of Michigan friends together since sophomore year ended was bittersweet. They were starting a new semester in Ann Arbor, while he was FaceTiming in from Singapore, stranded half a world away.
One day last June he was interviewing to renew his U.S. student visa, and the next his world was turned upside down by President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from 12 countries, including Thaw’s native Myanmar.
“If I knew it was going to go down this badly, I wouldn’t have left the United States,” he said of his decision to leave Michigan for a summer internship in Singapore.
The ban was one of several ways the Trump administration made life harder for international students during his first year back in the White House, including a pause in visa appointments and additional layers of vetting that contributed to a dip in foreign enrollment for first-time students. New students had to look elsewhere, but the hurdles made life particularly complicated for those like Thaw who were well into their U.S. college careers.
Universities have had to come up with increasingly flexible solutions, such as bringing back pandemic-era remote learning arrangements or offering admission to international campuses they partner with, said Sarah Spreitzer, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education.
In Thaw’s case, a Michigan administrator highlighted studying abroad as an option. As long as the travel ban was in place, a program in Australia seemed viable — at least initially.
In the meantime, Thaw didn’t have much to do in Singapore but wait. He made friends, but they were busy with school or jobs. After his internship ended, he killed time by checking email, talking walks and eating out.
“Mentally, I’m back in Ann Arbor,” the 21-year-old said. “But physically, I’m trapped in Singapore.”
He was at Michigan ‘to think and take risks’
When Thaw arrived in Ann Arbor in 2023, he threw himself into campus life. He immediately meshed with his dorm roommate’s group of friends, who had gone to high school together about an hour away. A neuroscience major, he also joined a biology fraternity and an Alzheimer’s research lab.
Students walk around the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emily Elconin)
His curiosity pushed him to explore a wide range of courses, including a Jewish studies class. The professor, Cara Rock-Singer, said Thaw told her his interest stemmed from reading the works of Philip Roth.
“I really work to make it a place where everyone feels not only comfortable, but invested in contributing,” Rock-Singer said. “But Patrick did not need nudging. He was always there to think and take risks.”
When Thaw landed his clinical research internship at a Singapore medical school, it felt like just another step toward success.
He heard speculation that the Trump administration might impose travel restrictions, but it was barely an afterthought — something he said he even joked about with friends before departing.
Thaw’s U.S. college dream had been a lifetime in the making but was undone — at least for now — by one trip abroad. Stuck in Singapore, he couldn’t sleep and his mind fixated on one question: “Why did you even come here?”
As a child, Thaw set his sights on attending an American university. That desire became more urgent as higher education opportunities dwindled after a civil war broke out in Myanmar.
For a time, tensions were so high that Thaw and his mother took shifts watching to make sure the bamboo in their front yard didn’t erupt in flames from Molotov cocktails. Once, he was late for an algebra exam because a bomb exploded in front of his house, he said.
So when he was accepted to the University of Michigan after applying to colleges “around the clock,” Thaw was elated.
“The moment I landed in the United States, like, set foot, I was like, this is it,” Thaw said. “This is where I begin my new life.”
Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emily Elconin)
When Thaw talked about life in Myanmar, it often led to deep conversations, said Allison Voto, one of his friends. He was one of the first people she met whose background was very different from hers, which made her “more understanding of the world,” she said.
During the 2024-25 school year, the U.S. hosted nearly 1.2 million international students. As of summer 2024, more than 1,400 people from Myanmar had American student visas, making it one of the top-represented countries among those hit by the travel ban.
A last-ditch effort to stay enrolled
A Michigan official said the school recognizes the challenges facing some international students and is committed to ensuring they have all the support and options it can provide. The university declined to comment specifically on Thaw’s situation.
While the study abroad program in Australia sparked some hope that Thaw could stay enrolled at Michigan, uncertainty around the travel ban and visa obstacles ultimately led him to decide against it.
He had left Myanmar to get an education and it was time to finish what he started, which meant moving on.
“I cannot just wait for the travel ban to just end and get lifted and go back, because that’s going to be an indefinite amount of time,” he said.
A flag blows in the wind atop the Michigan Union on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emily Elconin)
He started applying to colleges outside the U.S., getting back acceptance letters from schools in Australia and Canada. He is holding out hope of attending the University of Toronto, which would put his friends in Ann Arbor just a four-hour drive from visiting him.
“If he comes anywhere near me, basically on the continent of North America, I’m going to go see him,” said Voto, whose friendship with Thaw lately is defined by daylong gaps in their text conversations. “I mean, he’s Patrick, you know? That’s absolutely worth 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.
Students walk out of South Quad on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emily Elconin)
Every fall, college campuses come alive with small rituals: new students finding their way, roommates negotiating shared space, classrooms filling with questions and ideas.
But this year, something is missing.
International students—once a steady presence—are arriving in far smaller numbers. At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the change is felt in classrooms, group projects, and everyday conversations that no longer happen.
Behind the absence are visa delays, shifting federal rules, and a broader signal. The Trump administration is advancing a more nationalist, transactional approach to foreign policy, and the U.S. is increasingly seen abroad as unpredictable. For students deciding where to study, that uncertainty matters.
Gabriella Scarlatta, interim chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and a former international student herself, says what’s happening on campus reflects something larger about how welcome America feels right now. She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to explain what Michigan risks losing.
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As tensions around ICE rise across the country, multiple Native American tribes in Michigan are asking their members to always carry identification in case they get stopped by immigration officers.
Tribes in other states such as Minnesota have reported instances of members being targeted and detained by ICE agents.
The Sault Ste Marie and Grand Traverse tribes, along with other tribal communities across the state, condemned ICE’s actions in a series of statements reminding people they are U.S. citizens. They say Tribal ID cards are a federally recognized form of identification.
There are no reports of Michigan tribal members being detained at this time. Several tribes and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Additional headlines for Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026
Flint water settlement
The process of paying out claims from the Flint water settlement is moving forward. So far, 4,400 people have secured their payment from the more than $600 million settlement with the state of Michigan, the City of Flint and several businesses. Nearly 26,000 people have qualified for a share of the settlement.
Michigan implements stricter reading program requirements
The Michigan Department of Education is pushing for a stricter mandate for districts to implement “the science of reading” across the state. The Detroit News reports the department asked legislators to support mandatory training for elementary school teachers and require districts to choose from a list of approved reading programs.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is next week and the Zekelman Holocaust Center is hosting a performance of Remembrance of Things Present to commemorate. The theatre performance by the Braid centers true stories of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors through dramatic storytelling and song.
The performance is Sunday, Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m. at the Holocaust Center. Holocaust Remembrance Day is Jan. 27. It marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and honors the six million Jews and millions of others who were killed, tortured and persecuted by Nazis.
Admission to the museum is free Tuesday, Jan. 27. The Zekelman Holocaust Center is located at 28123 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills.
Community conversation
Urban Neighborhood Initiatives is hosting a community conversation and celebration Saturday. The Springwells Summit is a space where residents can bring ideas and concerns about safety, flooding, transit, housing or any other issues. The summit is from noon-2 p.m. The afterparty is from 2-4 p.m.
Accounting Aid Society seeks volunteers for tax season
The Accounting Aid Society hopes to recruit between 350 and 400 volunteers to provide no cost tax preparation services to low and no income families this tax season. No prior tax experience is required. Volunteers receive free training and certification.
The Accounting Aid Society activated 387 volunteers to process more than 23,000 tax returns last year and was responsible for more than $32 million in refunds in 2025. To learn more and get involved visit accountingaidsociety.org.
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Lansing — Several of Michigan’s public university leaders gathered last week to reveal the results of a study analyzing the positive economic impact their institutions have on the state, generating $45 billion annually.
As public scrutiny of higher education and its mission has grown over the last five years, the speakers, including Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz and Grand Valley State University President Philomena Mantella, explained on Tuesday how Michigan’s public schools are continuing to improve the lives of all Michigan residents.
It’s been 10 years since the last report on the economic impact of Michigan’s universities, said Britany Affolter-Caine, executive director of Research Universities for Michigan, an organization of the four Michigan research universities.
The report, done by the East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group, shows that Michigan’s public universities contributed $45 billion in net new economic activity through operations, student spending and alumni earnings for the state. The report pointed out that this revenue was more than 28 times the amount given in state appropriations for the 15 universities.
“This is economic impact that would not exist in Michigan if these institutions were not here,” said Dan Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association for State Universities.
However, about 70% of Americans now say higher education is going in the wrong direction, a poll by Pew Research released in October showed, up from 56% in 2020.
Guskiewicz and Mantella agreed that the public perception of higher education is something they’re trying to repair. Graduates coming out of college with jobs in their field, more affordable tuitions so students have less debt and showing the impact of universities in local communities are all ways the institutions can rebuild public trust, the speakers said.
Perception of higher education
Americans were losing confidence in higher education because they believe it’s too expensive, doesn’t provide the skills needed for today’s jobs and is “indoctrinating” students, Guskiewicz said.
The misinformation regarding the value of a degree conflicts with the real data that shows, Guskiewicz said, the social upward mobility and the opportunity that come with a degree, along with the improvements to quality of life in all sectors that touch a university.
“We have to do a better job of telling our story, just like we are today,” Guskiewicz said.
But negative perceptions of higher education held by lawmakers, federally and statewide, can hurt a university’s finances. In the past year, President Donald Trump’s administration has cut millions of dollars from Michigan universities, according to Treasury Department data compiled by the Center for American Progress, a liberal group.
Michigan House Republicans toyed with the idea of cutting $291 million from the University of Michigan’s and MSU’s state appropriations to redistribute among the other state universities. This was rejected by the Democratic-led Senate and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and all universities saw an increase in their state appropriations in the budget approved in October.
File photo from the campus of Central Michigan University. (Stephen Frye / MediaNews Group)
“That was an effort by one caucus in one chamber, which is a pretty distinct minority in the entire public body that ultimately is responsible for passing the state budget,” Hurley said. “All of our universities need to have reinvigorated state investment. … We are thankful for what the Legislature has done in recent years. … But we are conservatively at least 41st out of 50 in this country as it involves per student state support for public universities.”
The worth of a degree
Pew’s poll showed that about 80% of adult respondents said colleges and universities aren’t doing enough to keep tuition affordable, and about half said higher education wasn’t doing enough to prepare students for well-paying jobs.
The speakers acknowledged the longstanding problem of graduates struggling to find employment in their degree’s field, or any meaningful employment at all.
“This is not a new challenge,” Affolter-Caine said. “It happens to maybe be exacerbated in the current cycle.”
However, the report shows that graduates from Michigan universities make double what high school degree holders earn and, on average, about $20,000 more than what graduates from out-of-state public institutions make.
On average, the report said, Michigan university alumni ages 25-24 earn $91,073 yearly.
Mantella said Grand Valley, like other universities, has embraced and strengthened “experience-based learning.” This includes ensuring all students have access to an internship, project-based learning or other professional workforce experience while still in college.
“This is not only an opportunity to accelerate to the workforce,” Mantella said. “It’s so (students) come into the workforce at the appropriate levels, in the appropriate roles. … It also links the individual to a Michigan employer, so there’s a higher probability that they will, in fact, stay in the state and contribute to the state rather than go somewhere else.”
Hurley said about 84% of the top 50 most in-demand jobs over the next few years will require at least a bachelor’s degree.
“(Those jobs) are our state’s economy, our private sector, our non-private sector, our health care sector speaking,” Hurley said. “And so for us to be competitive in the future, we have to continue generating that talent. And of course, it’s the role of the state government to make sure that college remains affordable.”
File. University of Michigan campus. (Stephen Frye / MediaNews Group)
A new report says Michigan is losing teachers about as fast as it’s gaining them.
Researchers at Michigan State University say nearly eight thousand teachers left the field in the last academic year, while nearly the same number entered the profession. The report also highlights a reliance on temporary or interim teaching credentials. About 5% of teachers lack certification, and 3% are still in training.
Bridge Michigan notes that interim teachers are more common in charter schools and urban areas. Special education had the highest teaching vacancy rates.
Additional headlines from Friday, Jan. 16, 2026
TSA ConfirmID
TSA is introducing a new option for travelers who have not yet gotten their Real ID or a passport…for a fee. It’s called the TSA ConfirmID.
Starting Feb. 1, travelers will have to pay $45 for it on pay.gov. There isn’t an option to buy a ConfirmID with cash. You will still need photo identification along with the ID to fly.
Passengers with Confirm ID could experience delays of up to 30 minutes for an additional screening process.
Slotkin calls for settlement in EPA Flint lawsuit
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin says Flint is still in pain and looking for justice 12 years after lead contaminated the city’s drinking water. Slotkin urged the Trump administration to settle a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency.
Henry Ford exhibit celebrates 250 years of the U.S.
The Henry Ford is honoring the nation’s 250th birthday with a year-long celebration called “America: 250 Years in the Making.”
The celebration will be centered around two exhibitions and the opening of the Jackson Home, the house that served as the meeting place for Martin Luther King Jr and other leaders as they planned the Selma to Montgomery Marches of 1965.
The two exhibitions will focus on crafting in America and a collection of textiles and fashion that helped shape the county. For more information about all programming this year visit thehenryford.org.
Hatch Detroit Contest returns
Tech Town’s Hatch Detroit Contest is returning. The contest is for entrepreneurs with a retail concept looking to open a brick-and-mortar location in Detroit, Hamtramck, or Highland Park.
The winner will receive $100,000 from Comerica Bank and business support from TechTown Detroit.
Applications are now open. Participants can submit their business plans on hatchdetroit.com through Feb. 27.
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Minneapolis Public Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday “due to safety concerns related to today’s incidents around the city,” the district announced Wednesday night after a fatal ICE shooting earlier in the day in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Public Radio received a report that armed U.S. Border Patrol officers entered Minneapolis Roosevelt high school property during Wednesday’s dismissal period.
All district programs, activities and athletics were also cancelled. The district won’t move to e-learning, as that is only allowed in cases of severe weather.
The district said it will collaborate with the city on “emergency preparedness and response.”
For some of our listeners, arts and culture from kindergarten through high school were guaranteed and expected. Woodshop, cooking classes and, of course, art classes were a part of the curriculum.
As the decades have gone by, less money to schools means less resources. Oftentimes the first things cut from the budget are the arts. But educators who work within the K-12 school system say the arts are essential to a well-rounded education.
Meghan Collins
Meghan Collins is Museum Educator for K-12 and Family Programs at the MSU Broad Art Museum. She is also an Assistant Professor of Art Education in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design.
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.
Michigan’s schools are increasingly tasked with more than teaching.
They are expected to raise reading and math scores, address rising mental health needs, manage technology and discipline, and serve as safe, stable places for families under stress. In some communities, they’re also absorbing fear sparked by immigration enforcement actions. That includes the detention of Detroit students seeking asylum.
This is the landscape facing Michigan’s new top education official.
Dr. Glenn Maleyko was sworn in last month as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He steps into the new role after nearly a decade leading Dearborn Public Schools. He has identified literacy as his priority and launched a statewide listening tour.
The Metro’s Robyn Vincent sat down with Maleyko to learn how he plans to lead a system being asked to do more than it was designed to handle.
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Presidents of Michigan public universities aren’t sticking around as long as they once did.
At least, it seems that way. Two high-profile research university presidents departed in 2025: University of Michigan’s Santa Ono and Wayne State University’s Kimberly Andrews Espy. When UM-Dearborn’s Chancellor, Domenico Grasso, filled in as interim president of UM with plans to retire after his term, another public university lost a president.
“It’s always been a difficult job. You run basically what are equivalent to small cities,” said Robert LeFevre, president of the Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities association. “The demands are ever-increasing. Presidents are fundraising non-stop; they’re on the road a lot.”
And it’s not just public universities that have experienced more leadership loss this past year. Six community college presidents left their roles for retirement or other jobs, including at one of Michigan’s public universities.
Private universities, however, have largely been spared the leadership changes this year. One reason for this is that the presidents of those institutions don’t typically leave for another job, LeFevre said. Instead, presidents stay in the job until retirement, or in the rare cases, dismissal, he said.
The longevity of Michigan’s higher education leaders is largely in line with national trends, said Erica Orians, vice president of the Michigan Community College Association.
Nationwide, university presidents are sticking around for less time as a result of the challenges that affect the entire sector. Enrollment decline, lingering post-pandemic burnout and increasing concerns about federal funding for operations and student financial aid are all top of mind for leaders in higher education.
Despite this, the job is as rewarding as ever, said Dan Hurley, president of the Michigan Association of State Universities.
“(Michigan’s) institutions have missions that excite and drive those who want to serve as presidents,” he said. “… Leading the change is one of the most impactful things someone can do.”
Why presidents leave
Higher education sectors can have varying missions and different ways of operating. Public universities tend to be larger, for example, and independent colleges do not receive direct state or federal appropriations. However, all are impacted by a decade of declining enrollment, decreasing funding for operations and student aid and leadership burnout.
Fewer students are graduating high school because of decades of declining birth rates in Michigan, and some high school graduates are choosing to join the workforce immediately, rather than earn degrees. However, schools are finding their footing. But Michigan has experienced enrollments inching up as of late after a decade of decline.
Universities in Michigan experienced millions in research funding losses from President Donald Trump’s administration’s shift in priorities for higher education. This impacted public universities, like the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but also, to a lesser extent, independent colleges, like Alma College and Lawrence Technological University, the Center for American Progress reports.
Orians said turnover in community college presidencies was the highest since she began at the Michigan Community College Association a decade ago. However, she said there has been a wave of retirements this year that left more schools looking for leaders, and she doesn’t think the trend will continue.
“No one is running away from the challenges of higher education,” she said. “That’s why they’ve gotten into this work.”
But it’s hard for a president to pass up an opportunity they might see as a better fit.
Russ Kavalhuna left his role at Henry Ford Community College for the presidency at Western Michigan University. Mike Gavin left his role at Delta College to continue his work “defending equity in higher education,” Inside Higher Ed reported in October.
Adding to this, tensions with a governing board might cause a president to feel pressured to leave. All of the last permanent presidents at Michigan’s top research universities, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, left after reported disputes with their boards.
LeFevre said that although presidents at Michigan independent schools don’t typically leave for other jobs, it didn’t mean that the sector hadn’t had its own massive vacancies in leadership in the past year. A couple of years ago, seven presidents either retired or were dismissed, he said.
“Once presidents fit with their boards, the school and the community, they have a tendency to stay,” he said.
How long presidents stay
Of all sitting university presidents in Michigan, the average length of tenure is about three years, with most having been in the role for about 18 months, an analysis of presidential term lengths by The Detroit News shows. Three presidents have been hired this year.
Hurley attributes this to a “cyclical” transition over the last 12-18 months. While the number of public universities that have looked for a permanent president in 2025 is higher than in previous years, he doesn’t believe it’s a trend that is here to stay.
Independent college and university presidents who are currently in the role have stuck around a little longer, a review shows. The average tenure for a sitting president is a little over five years, with most having served for three.
Four private university presidents have been in the role for over a decade: Adrian College’s Jeffrey Docking, Kettering University’s Robert McMahan, the University of Olivet’s Steven Corey and Spring Arbor University’s Brent Ellis.
The length of tenure for sitting community college presidents is longer, at about seven years, with most presidents having served for about five, a review shows.
Two community college presidents in Michigan have some of the longest tenures of any higher education president in Michigan. Daniel Phelan of Jackson College has held his role since 2001, and Curtis Ivery of Wayne County Community College has served since 1995.
“When I talk about curriculum and outcomes, it’s not abstract to me,” he told the magazine. “Nothing replaces the passion and love I have for people. I really sincerely believe that education is the only way out. And I don’t stutter about that. I am so committed to that.”
Orians said the Michigan Community College Association’s Leadership Academy tries to prepare potential community college presidents who are administrators or senior faculty to take on the role if the current president leaves. Those who’ve been through the academy have found work as presidents at colleges in Michigan or other states.
“Future leaders are equipped to lead (through the academy),” she said. “And they know the schools, the community … it’s a real hallmark of community colleges.”
A Harvard-trained biomedical researcher, Samuel Stanley Jr. earned a reputation at Stony Brook as a leader who strengthened the university, especially in science, technology, engineering and math, but struggled with transparency and communication skills at MSU. (David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS)
By Craig Mauger, Chad Livengood, Beth LeBlanc, MediaNews Group
Lansing — A group of seven Michigan House Republicans introduced bills this month that would exempt land owned by people without children in public schools from property taxes that benefit public schools.
The legislation, which has little to no chance of passing the state Legislature this term, would lead to significant funding cuts for K-12 schools in the coming years. However, the supporters of the proposals contended that it was unfair to require property owners who don’t directly use public schools to fund them.
“It’s fundamentally unjust to force people, including seniors, empty-nesters, those who pay for private school, and those without children, to subsidize a government education system they do not use,” Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, argued in a press release. “This is especially unfair because our broken system spends a record amount of money, yet results continue to plummet.”
The exemption, under Carra’s proposal, would be phased in starting with a 40% drop in taxes in 2027 and then expanding by 15 percentage points annually until the school-connected property taxes were eliminated in 2031.
Among the other six lawmakers who co-sponsored the measures were Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Jim DeSana, R-Carleton, who also serves on the appropriations panel.
About 72% of Michigan households do not have a child in government schools, according to Carra’s press release.
Jess Newman, deputy political director for the advocacy group United for Respect, labeled Carra’s proposal an “unconscionable bill” and “a move to defund our public schools.”
“The result for our communities will be nothing short of devastating,” Newman added. “Families are already stretched thin by rising housing, health care and child care costs. Making parents shoulder the cost of education alone would be unbearable.
“We all benefit from healthy, well-funded schools, whether or not we have children attending, and this move will only further widen inequities between wealthy and low-income districts.”
Newman is part of the Invest In MI Kids campaign, which is seeking to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 that would impose a 5% tax on income over $500,000 to increase funding for K-12 schools.
House GOP leaders sent the property tax exemption bills to the Government Operations Committee. In addition to the House, the Democratic-controlled Senate would have to approve them for them to become law, and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would have to sign them.
Democrats in the Senate and Whitmer have promoted their efforts to increase K-12 school funding over the years.
Senator asks for AG convention opinion
State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, has asked Attorney General Dana Nessel for an official opinion on whether it’s legal for political parties to hold early nominating conventions to make binding picks of candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and other statewide offices.
Both Michigan Republicans and Democrats have scheduled nominating conventions for the spring of 2026, as a strategy to give their nominees an early start on the fall campaign. The parties have done the same thing previously.
However, Michigan law says each political party must nominate a candidate for lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general at fall conventions after the August primary.
“It has come to my attention that one of the state’s major political parties intends to convene a separate ‘endorsement convention’ several months prior to the August primary election,” McBroom wrote to Nessel “Under the adopted party rules, only a person who has (a) obtained prior endorsement at that separate “endorsement convention” and (b) paid a fee of $10,000 to appear before the ‘endorsement convention; may be considered for nomination at the post-primary state convention.”
McBroom specifically asked Nessel to decide whether a political party may lawfully conduct an endorsement convention that “purports to bind, limit or otherwise condition the constitutional authority of the post-primary state convention to nominate candidates for attorney general and secretary of state.”
Duggan moving downtown
After 12 years of living in the Manoogian Mansion on the banks of the Detroit River, outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan is going to get a better view of downtown Detroit each morning.
Duggan and his wife, Dr. Sonia Hassan, are moving into a rental condo in the 33-story Book-Cadillac Hotel building on Washington Boulevard.
The one-time Livonia resident confirmed his post-mayoral residency plans in a Dec. 18 interview with The Detroit News editorial board.
“My wife and I are looking forward to being able to just walk out to dinner downtown like normal people, which we will be able to do in two weeks,” said Duggan, who is running for governor next year as an independent.
With his eyes set on moving into the governor’s residence in Lansing in 2027, Duggan said he and his wife got a one-year lease in the Book-Cadillac, which houses both luxury condos and a Westin hotel.
Duggan has lived at the Manoogian Mansion on the city’s east riverfront since he was first elected mayor in 2013. Detroit’s official residence for the mayor is named after its one-time owner, the late construction materials magnate Alex Manoogian, who donated it to the city in the mid-1960s.
A nonprofit group reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on improvements to the 4,000-square-foot home while Duggan has lived there.
Duggan told The News he expects Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield to make additional improvements to the century-old mansion.
“It’s in good shape now and Sheffield (will) fix it up even more,” Duggan said. “… It is a great place to live. I will miss the house.”
Andy Levin’s new (ad)venture
Former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin appears to be living his best life — and perhaps pinching himself.
Instead of trying to mount a comeback in Michigan politics, the former two-term congressman from Bloomfield Township has bought a cross-country skiing and snowshoeing resort in northern Ontario.
In a Dec. 20 post on LinkedIn, Levin divulged that he and his wife, Mary Freeman, are the new majority owners of Stokely Creek Lodge in Goulais River, Ontario, about 25 miles — or 41 kilometers — north of the International Bridge connecting Sault Ste. Marie with its sister city of the same name in Canada.
“We’ve been snowshoeing, skiing, canoeing and hiking in the Algoma region of Ontario since before we were married. In fact, I proposed to Mary on snowshoes high atop the Awausee Trail in Lake Superior Provincial Park,” Levin wrote.
The former congressman described the lodge in the foothills above Lake Superior as “a mix of unfussy, down-home comfort with high standards.”
Levin and Freeman still run their Detroit-based energy-efficiency consulting firm, Lean & Green Michigan. In his announcement post, Levin suggested they might use the resort to host retreats for progressive political allies.
“As we move into the holiday season in a world plagued with violence, greed and corruption, I’m grateful for the curveballs life throws our way.” Levin wrote. “Watch out: some of them just might open doors to adventures you didn’t even know you wanted to undertake!”
Whitmer calls Michigan troops
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday called Michigan National Guard troops deployed to Germany, Kuwait and the southeast border to wish them well ahead of the holidays and New Year’s.
More than 800 Michigan National Guard members are serving away from their families and homes of the holidays, according to the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
“As we celebrate the holidays and gather with family, friends, and loved ones, I encourage every Michigander to take a moment to acknowledge the selfless sacrifices that these individuals make every day and pray for their safe return home,” Whitmer said in a statement Tuesday.
The members she spoke with over video calls included those from the 217th Air Operations Group, 110th Wing, from Battle Creek; Alpha Company, 3-126 Infantry Battalion from Detroit; Bravo Company, 3-126 Infantry Battalion from Wyoming; and the 1430th Engineer Company from Traverse City, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
Pure Michigan plate wins in a landslide
The basic white Pure Michigan license plate will continue to carry the mantle of being the most popular license plate design in Michigan into 2026. The license plate adorns about 8.3 million vehicles and trailers, accounting for about 71.5% of license plate sales in Michigan, the Secretary of State’s office said last week.
Among the state’s standard plate options, the blue and yellow Water-Winter Wonderland plate is the second most popular, with 1.27 million plates or 10.9% of plates issued, and the multicolor Mackinac Bridge plate comes in third, accounting for 10.7% of plates issued at 1.25 million vehicles and trailers.
About 453,000 of the discontinued white, green, and blue Spectacular Peninsulas plates remain in circulation, as well as about 218,000 green and white Water Wonderland plates.
About 122,586 university fundraising plates are still on the road, with Michigan State University topping the list at 55,413 and the University of Michigan in second with 28,194.
The University of Michigan-Flint came in last with 536 fundraising plates in circulation.
Tweet of the Week
The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week goes to the Pure Michigan account on X, formerly Twitter.
On Christmas Eve, the state’s tourism organization posted a bird’s-eye view of a snow-covered Mackinac Island, proving the island is much more idyllic when covered in snow during the winter than when it’s filled with politicians and lobbyists in the spring for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he and his wife, Dr. Sonia Hassan, are moving into the Book-Cadillac Hotel building in downtown Detroit after he vacates the Manoogian Mansion, the official residence of Detroit’s mayor. (David Guralnick, Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS)
Design students in LTU’s College of Architecture and Design will exhibit their product design work at Ann Arbor’s pop-up CultureVerse Gallery through Jan. 5, 2026.
The exhibition is titled “Artists & Their Teachers: The Power of Mentorship in the Transfer of Ideas.”
The exhibition is unique for its focus on a variety of professional and emerging artists.
Junior Ashgen Lourdes Davish from Commerce Twp. and senior Sofia Eddy, from Bloomfield Hills are among five LTU students participating in the event.
College of Architecture and Design Interim Dean Lilian Crum said industry-sponsored studios like this one with Design Declassified, a sustainable building materials company, are invaluable to students.
“They provide real-world constraints, professional expectations, and collaborative opportunities that prepare students for the complexities of contemporary design practice,” she said. “This partnership challenged our students to design products while addressing adaptability, resilience, and environmental impact.”
They will be showcased at the May 2026 International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City.
Exhibition hours are Friday and Saturday, from 4 to 7 p.m., and by appointment through Jan. 5, 2026. Appointments may be arranged by contacting A2 Jazz Fest administrative director Anna Gersh.
The CultureVerse Gallery is located at 309 S. Main St., Ann Arbor.
Erika Cross, CoAD adjunct professor of design and owner of Ann Arbor-based Erika Cross Studio, and her students, juniors Ashgen Boyer, Lourdes Davish, Delanie Shorten, and Ryan Sukhraj, and senior Sofia Eddy, are participating in the public exhibition with other artists and their students.
Photo courtesy Erica Cross Studio
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is bringing back dozens of Education Department staffers who were slated to be laid off, saying their help is needed to tackle a mounting backlog of discrimination complaints from students and families.
The staffers had been on administrative leave while the department faced lawsuits challenging layoffs in the agency’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigates possible discrimination in the nation’s schools and colleges. But in a Friday letter, department officials ordered the workers back to duty starting Dec. 15 to help clear civil rights cases.
A department spokesperson confirmed the move, saying the government still hoped to lay off the staffers to shrink the size of the department.
“The Department will continue to appeal the persistent and unceasing litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers,” Julie Hartman said in a statement.
In the letter to employees, obtained by The Associated Press, officials said the department needs “all OCR staff to prioritize OCR’s existing complaint caseload.” The office handles everything from complaints about possible violations of disability rights to racial discrimination.
More than 200 workers from the Office for Civil Rights were targeted in mass layoffs at the department, but the firings have been tied up in legal battles since March. An appeals court cleared the way for the cuts in September, but they’re again on hold because of a separate lawsuit. In all, the Education Department workforce has shrunk from 4,100 when President Donald Trump took office to roughly half that size now, as the president vows to wind down the agency.
The department did not say how many workers are returning to duty. Some who have been on administrative leave for months have since left.
The Office for Civil Rights had a backlog of about 20,000 discrimination cases when Trump took office in January. Since then, with a significantly reduced workforce, the backlog has grown to more than 25,000, AP reporting has shown using department data.
Trump officials have defended the layoffs even as complaints pile up, saying the office wasn’t operating efficiently, even at full staff.
The Office for Civil Rights enforces many of the nation’s laws about civil rights in education, including those barring discrimination based on disability, sex, race and religion. It investigates complaints from students across the country and has the power to cut funding to schools and colleges that violate the law, though most cases are resolved in voluntary agreements.
Some former staffers have said there’s no way the office can address the current backlog under the staffing levels left after the layoffs. Families who have filed discrimination complaints against their schools say they have noticed the department’s staffing shortages, with some waiting months and hearing nothing.
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 seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
When six Southern public university systems this summer formed a new accreditation agency, the move shook the national evaluation model that higher education has relied on for decades.
The news wasn’t unexpected: It arrived a few months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April overhauling the nation’s accreditation system by, among other things, barring accreditors from using college diversity mandates. It also came after U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in May made it easier for universities to switch accreditors.
The accreditation process, often bureaucratic, cumbersome and time consuming, is critical to the survival of institutions of higher education. Colleges and their individual departments must undergo outside reviews — usually every few years — to prove that they meet certain educational and financial standards. If a school is not accredited, its students cannot receive federal aid such as Pell grants and student loans.
Some accreditation agencies acknowledge the process needs to evolve. But critics say the Trump administration is reshaping accreditation for political reasons, and risks undermining the legitimacy of the degrees colleges and universities award to students.
Trump said during his campaign that he would wield college accreditation as a “secret weapon” to root out DEI and other “woke” ideas from higher education. He has made good on that pledge.
Over the summer, for example, the administration sent letters to the accreditors of both Columbia and Harvard universities, alleging that the schools had violated federal civil rights law, and thus their accreditation rules, by failing to prevent the harassment of Jewish students after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
The administration’s antipathy toward DEI has prompted some accreditors to remove diversity requirements. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, for instance, removed diversity and inclusion language from its guiding principles earlier this year. Under White House pressure, the American Bar Association this year suspended enforcement of its DEI standards for its accreditation of law schools and has extended that suspension into next year.
But state legislatures laid the groundwork for public university accreditation changes even before Trump returned to the White House.
In 2022, Florida enacted a law requiring the state’s public institutions to switch accreditors every cycle — usually every few years — forcing them to move away from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, known as SACSCOC.
North Carolina followed suit in 2023, with a law prohibiting the 16 universities within the University of North Carolina system and the state’s community colleges from receiving accreditation from the same agency for consecutive cycles.
Then, the consortium of six Southern university systems this summer launched its new accreditation agency, called the Commission for Public Higher Education. The participating states include Florida and North Carolina, along with Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release that the commission will “break the ideological stronghold” that other accreditation agencies have on higher education. Speaking at Florida Atlantic University, he said the new organization will “upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels.”
“We care about student achievement; we care about measurable outcomes; we care about efficiency; we care about pursuing truth; we care about preparing our students to be citizens of our republic,” DeSantis said.
Jan Friis, senior vice president for government affairs at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which represents accrediting agencies, said the century-old system is in the midst of its most significant changes since the federal government tied accreditation to student aid after World War II.
“If the student picks a school that’s not accredited by a recognized accreditor, they can’t spend any federal aid there,” Friis said. “Accreditation has become the ‘good housekeeping seal of approval.’”
What’s next for the new accreditor
Dan Harrison, who is leading the startup phase of the Commission for Public Higher Education, described accreditation as “the plumbing of the whole higher ed infrastructure.”
“It’s not dramatic. It’s not meant to be partisan. But it’s critical to how schools function,” said Harrison, who is the University of North Carolina System’s vice president for academic affairs.
Though the founding schools of the new commission are all in the South, Harrison said, he expects accreditation to shift away from the long-standing geography-based model. In the past, universities in the South were accredited by SACSCOC simply because of location. In the future, he said, public universities across the country might instead be grouped together because they share similar governance structures, funding constraints and oversight.
“In 2025, if you were designing accreditation from scratch, you wouldn’t build it around geography,” Harrison said. “Public universities have more in common with each other across states than they do with private or for-profit institutions in their own backyard.”
The Commission for Public Higher Education opened with an initial cohort capped at 10 institutions within the first six states. Harrison said that based on the interest, the group could have accepted 15 to 20.
“I thought we’d be at six or seven. We reached 10 quickly and across a wider range of institutions than expected,” he said. “We already have an applicant outside the founding systems. That’s well ahead of where I thought we would be.”
That early interest, he said, reflects frustration among public institutions around finances. In particular, public universities are mandated to undergo audits from the state, but also feel burdened by audits required by accreditors.
“Public universities already undergo multiple audits and state budget oversight,” he said. “Then accreditation requires them to do the same work again. It feels like reinventing the wheel and it pulls faculty and staff away from teaching and research.”
Harrison estimates it will take five to seven years for the new accreditor to be fully up and running, and that institutions will need to maintain dual accreditation to avoid risking Pell Grants and federal loans.
The commission is busy assembling peer review teams made up primarily of current and former public university leaders such as governing board members, system chancellors, provosts, chief financial officers, deans and faculty. In contrast to regional accreditors, which typically draw reviewers from both public and private institutions, the new commission is prioritizing reviewers from public universities.
“Ultimately, we want to be a true nationwide accreditor,” Harrison said. “Not a regional one. Not a partisan one. Just one that is organized around sector and peer expertise.”
While the creation of a public university accreditor is new, the concept of sector-specific accreditation exists in other parts of higher education, including for two-year colleges.
Mac Powell, president of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, said that tailoring accreditation to a sector can make the peer-review model more meaningful, because reviewers can identify with similar challenges. He said reviewers have been moving away from measuring resources and bureaucratic compliance toward assessing what students actually get out of their education.
“The big shift was moving from counting inputs to asking, ‘Did students actually learn what we said they would learn?’” said Powell, whose organization accredits 138 colleges across Arizona, California, New York and the Pacific.
The most important metric all accreditation models should value is how they transition their students into the workforce, he said.
“Every accreditor today is paying much more attention to retention, persistence, transfer, career outcomes and return on investment,” Powell said. “It’s becoming less about how many books are in the library and more about whether students can find a pathway to the middle class.”
The institution evolves
Stephen Pruitt is in his first year as the president of SACSCOC, the accreditation organization that the half-dozen Southern state university systems just left. Pruitt, a Georgia native, jokes that his “Southern accent and front-porch style” has helped him break down the importance of accreditation to just about anyone.
In simple terms, he said, accreditation is the system that makes college degrees real. But he feels he has to clarify a misconception about the role of accreditation agencies like SACSCOC.
“There’s this myth that I’m sitting in Atlanta deciding if institutions are good or not,” he said. “That’s not how American accreditation works. Your peers evaluate you. People who do the same work you do.”
At the same time, Pruitt isn’t dismissing the concerns that prompted states such as Florida and North Carolina to explore alternatives to SACSCOC. According to Pruitt, institutions have long raised concerns about slow turnaround times, redundant paperwork and standards that have not always adapted quickly to the evolving landscape in higher education.
“Some of the frustration is real. Institutions want less redundancy and more responsiveness. Competition isn’t something we’re afraid of,” he said. “We’re doing a full audit of our processes. We have to be more contemporary. Faster approvals, more flexibility, more transparency. Accreditation shouldn’t just be the stick. It should be the carrot too.”
Soon to be graduates pose for a photo at the University of North Carolina on May 1, 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images North America/TNS)
Police are investigating a potential threat against Groves High School, officials said Friday.
The Beverly Hills campus is part of the Birmingham Public Schools district.
School staff alerted the police department’s school resource officer at 9:30 p.m. Thursday about a “concerning” image posted on social media, according to authorities. The image displayed several hunting rifles lying side by side. It had no captions and was posted on a group thread related to the school district, police said.
Officers visited the student’s home to conduct a welfare check. Investigators said the student and his parents were cooperative.
“It was determined last night that there was no immediate threat to the community and there were no guns located at the individual’s residence,” Edward Arnold, the village’s Director for Public Safety, said Friday.
He said there are no firearms registered to the parents, and the photo had been taken several months ago when the student was in the Upper Peninsula.
On Thursday, district officials told parents in a letter that the police department received a tip from the state’s OK2SAY system for reporting school threats anonymously.
The report involved a social media post made by a Groves student that included an image depicting several rifles, the letter said. “Importantly, there was no direct threat made toward any individual or toward the school.”
School officials said although police deemed there was no immediate threat to the school’s students and staff, they will “continue to exercise due diligence and work closely with law enforcement to thoroughly review all aspects of the situation.”
The district also said the student suspected of posting the image of the weapons will not return to the school while the investigation is conducted.
“Additionally, families can expect an increased police presence at Groves and our feeder schools throughout the day (Friday) to provide added reassurance for students and staff,” officials said.
Groves High School has about 1,100 students.
In August, Michigan State Police said the OK2SAY system received 11,671 tips in 2024, a 20% increase from the previous year and the highest reporting level of the program since its inception in 2014.
More than 600 of those tips related to threats, 252 were about guns,125 were about bombs, and 73 involved weapons possession, according to the program’s annual report. That compares to 741 tips about threats, 185 about guns, 64 about bombs, and 73 about weapons possession in 2023.
The growing awareness of the value among parents wanting to develop and inspire their child’s interests is not only driving more companies to develop educational products but pushing sales.
According to a report by Global Market Insights the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) toy market is projected to reach $13 billion by 2032. Among the toymakers meeting the demand is Assaf Eshet, CEO and founder of Clixo , a flexible, origami-inspired magnetic system that was recently named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025. As an industrial designer who has worked for some of the top names in the toy industry, Eshet said his mission has always been to create toys that inspire exploration rather than dictate outcomes.
Brooklyn Knott, 9, left, and Ava Salcio, 9, fourth-graders at Clintondale Community Schools’ McGlinnen Elementary School and members of its student council try out Clixo, one of several STEAM toys not only earning awards but the attention of kids who love to build things. (Photo courtesy of Alexandra Hichel/Clintondale Community Schools)
“Kids should have a real appetite for curiosity,” said Eshet. “Our job as parents, teachers and toymakers is to strike that nerve of wonder and keep it alive.”
That’s what Playmobil did for him as a child.
“I used to assemble them and then reassemble them to make them my own,” Eshet said during a phone interview from New York City.
Now children are taking his kits, assembling them as they are and then reimagining them to be something else.
“Things that we can’t even imagine they are already creating,” said Eshet, who launched the brand in 2020 with a few kits and has expanded it to include 20 kits ranging from $15 to $200. New this year for aspiring paleontologists is Dinosaur Adventure (6-up, $49.99).
“It’s an amazing set,” Eshet said, of the newest addition to the Clixo family featuring 36 pieces that can be used to make a variety of dinosaurs or whatever creature comes to mind.
“You can mix and match them, too,” said Eshet, whose Clixo brand is also in the running for the Toy Foundation’s Best Creativity Toy of the Year.
The company also earned the Best Creative Fun Award by Tillywig and was named to Toy Insider’s Top Holiday Toys list in 2023.
Clixo is a new favorite but the launch of STEM toys happened around the same time as the space race and the inauguration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958.
“The scientific achievements of the next three decades from the moon landing, artificial heart, personal computing and cell phones all yielded a call for enhanced science education,” according to a report from Forbes. “The call was answered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which established guidelines for the teaching of science, math, engineering and technology in grades K-12, introducing the acronym SMET. However, educators and policymakers found the term awkward and unappealing, evensuggesting it sounded like ‘smut’. So in 2001, the NSF officially rebranded the initiative STEM and more recently STEAM, as ‘Art’ was added.”
“A lot of parents are buying STEAM toys that have educational value and those toys become treasures,” said Julie Everitt, co-owner of Whistle Stop Hobby and Toy in St. Clair Shores, which has been in the business of selling toys for more than 50 years. Everitt said there are a number of cool new STEAM toys out this year including Rail Cube by Sanko Toys (3-up, $99.99-$199.99).
“The set comes with magnetic tubes that you connect to create a little monorail for a little engine,” Everitt said. “It’s a super cute set and it really goes.”
Another favorite at Whistle Stop is Hape’s Lock and Learn Playboard (3-6, $34.99), a wooden busy board featuring little exercises that teach kids meaningful tasks like how to unlock a latch or turn on a light. Among the STEAM toys growing in popularity among older kids is Rolife’s miniature kits ($49.99). Tweens and teens, even adults can build everything from little houses and book nooks to tiny greenhouses.
“Most of them are for ages 14 and up but we do carry some for 8-plus,” Everitt said, sharing but a few of the STEAM toys making this year’s hot list.
More toys
Looking for a few more toys. Check out our kids’ review of this year’s lineup of STEAM toys along with many others that are expected to make Santa’s Wish List inside the Homefront section and on our website.
Meet toymaker Assaf Eshet, an industrial designer who came up with the idea for Clixo, a STEAM toy that’s been making everyones hot list of toys this holiday season including Time’s 2025 Best Inventions. (Photo courtesy of Clixo)
Amid increased immigration enforcement across the country, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald urged students, teachers and families not to interfere with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — but to also know their rights if agents show up at a school or detain parents.
McDonald said in a Friday news release that interfering with ICE or other law enforcement “increases the risk for everyone.” The county prosecutor said ICE agents may enter public areas in schools without restriction, but must present either a judicial warrant or permission from the school to enter private areas like classrooms or offices.
McDonald’s statement follows news on Wednesday that ICE agents pursued purported gang members who had fled on foot near a Clarkston Community elementary school, Oakland County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Steve Huber said Friday. The district issued a shelter-in-place order, sheriff’s deputies provided additional security to the school and assisted the search, Huber said.
The search and shelter-in-place order lasted for about an hour, according to district officials.
In preparation for a possible ICE presence, McDonald said schools should require visitors to sign in, make sure security cameras work, follow student privacy protections and have a communication plan. She also said faculty and staff should treat ICE agents like they would any visitor who’s not a parent or guardian and educate the staff on how to identify a judicial warrant.
The prosecutor also said parents and caregivers should remember their right not to answer any questions about immigration or birthplace, make sure the school has correct emergency contact information, ask their schools if they have an ICE preparedness plan and make a family plan if a parent is detained while their children are at school.
“As ICE raids have happened across our country, many community members, including our students, parents, and teachers, have experienced understandable anxiety and fear. Schools should be places where kids feel safe, and worrying that a teacher, child, or classmate could be detained can impact a student’s health and well-being. Working together, there are steps schools and families can take to keep kids safe, informed, and protected,” McDonald said in a statement.
School superintendents across Michigan vowed in January that they would keep their students and school buildings safe and instructed staff on proper procedures as the Trump administration increased its immigration enforcement efforts nationwide.
ICE officials said in September their agents do not “raid” schools, but could enter a school if an undocumented immigrant with a felony record were to flee into a school.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald urged students, teachers and families not to interfere with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — but to also know their rights if agents show up at a school or detain parents. (Katy Kildee, The Detroit News)
On Nov. 10 Oakland University President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz formally adopted the Okanagan Charter.
The charter provides institutions with a common language, principles and framework to become a health and wellbeing promoting campus and outlines two calls to action: to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates, and to lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
“We know that a mentally and physically healthy community leads to a thriving campus. Adopting the Okanagan Charter means we’re joining a global movement of health-promoting universities and reaffirming our commitment to embed health into every part of campus life,” said Becky Lewis, director of University Recreation and Well-Being and chair of OU’s Healthy Campus Network. “As part of the adoption, and as we move forward, we will foster an environment where everyone can live well in all areas of wellness – physical, mental, social, environmental and financial.”
Oakland is one of the first 50 universities in the country to adopt the charter.
“We’re so proud to lead by example and adopt the Okanagan Charter,” said Pescovitz. “By doing so, we are reaffirming our commitment to care for one another, nurture a campus where all can flourish and build a future rooted in health.”
President Pescovitz signs the Okanagan Charter, reaffirming OU's commitment to promoting health and wellbeing across campus and in surrounding communities.
Photo courtesy OU
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