Listen to the latest episode of the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Michigan elected officials and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center are urging U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to release detained refugees. Six Hmong and eight Laotian refugees were detained on July 30th after receiving a letter from ICE and reporting for what they believed was a routine check in. The refugees were transported through several sites before finally arriving in Louisiana. Immigration advocates believe that is the final stage before being deported to Laos. State Representative Mai Xiong says the U.S. does not have a memorandum of understanding with Laos, and anyone deported there could be in danger.

These individuals fled, their family members fled persecution from Laos. Their parents, in particular, were involved in the the war in the 1970s in the Vietnam War, the secret war. They were recruited by the US to fight alongside American soldiers, and so they are in imminent danger.

The Michigan Immigrations Rights Center, the Asian Law Caucus and others sent a letter to ICE urging the agency not to deport these individuals since they are not in the U.S. illegally and can face persecution for aiding the U.S. government. The letter also called for transparency in the deportation process. Reporting by Bre’Anna Tinsley

More headlines from Monday, August 11

A new study shows Michigan teachers are among the lowest-paid in the country. Researchers at Michigan State University say the starting salary for a new teacher is almost $5000 lower than the national average. Experienced teachers earn about $3000 less than average. The report also shows Michigan teachers earn about 23% less than workers in other fields with similar levels of education and experience. Public opinion polls cited in the report show strong support for paying teachers more money. Reporting by Pat Batcheller The Hannan Center is accepting nominations for its 70 Over Seventy Awards. The honor and annual event spotlight people 70 and over who have and continue to make an impact on Detroit and Michigan. Anyone can nominate someone who is working, mentoring, creating or otherwise impacting community at hannan.org/70overseventy. Call 313-833-1300 extension 16 with questions. The Phoenix and Cielo Rooftop Detroit are hosting an alcohol-free, smoke-free, and vape-free “elevated nightlife experience” this Friday. Organizers say the 21 and over substance-free event will offer panoramic views of the Detroit skyline with a high-energy vibe and free tastings from craft mocktail makers B. Nektar and Ted Segers, who make “regal… non-alcoholic brews for serious drinkers.” The party starts with a live DJ spinning at 9pm Friday and runs to 1am, no entry fee required. Cielo Rooftop is located at 600 West Lafayette Boulevard Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Right now, Michigan kids are struggling with something fundamental — reading. Over the last 20 years, the state dropped from 30th to 44th in 4th-grade reading scores. Last year, only 25 percent of fourth graders were considered proficient in reading.

What can Michigan do about this? Some suggest we should be looking to Mississippi, because that state has dramatically improved its math and reading scores for 4th graders, now ranking in the top 20 after it was at the bottom a decade ago. But Mississippi isn’t flush with cash — it’s America’s poorest state. So how did they do it? And what does Michigan need to do to change its rankings?

To discuss all that, we have Adrea Truckenmiller on The Metro today, an associate professor of special education at Michigan State University.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro

A new state pilot program kicking off this fall aims to reduce turnover and attract talent in early childhood education by offering affordable benefits packages for educators.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The two-year pilot program, facilitated through the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM), will include health insurance, life and disability benefits, and 401(k) options for early education teachers and child care workers.

Michelle Beebe, chief revenue officer with the Small Business Association of Michigan, told WDET the high turnover rate in the childcare industry is bad for kids.

“Every time you adjust a caregiver it’s impacting a child’s life, it slows down the learning process,” she said. “You have training, it costs the business owner money to constantly be in a state of hiring, and this allows for stability within that industry.”

Beebe says the SBAM hopes to develop tiered benefits packages, where the base plan will be subsidized by the state and employers can buy into higher tiers.

–Reporting by Bre’Anna Tinsley, WDET

Other headlines for Friday, July 18, 2025:

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has promised a better semiconductor deal for Michigan after the SanDisk Corporation pulled out of an agreement to build a chip factory near flint.
• Detroit has demolished thousands of vacant homes since
  voters approved Proposal N five years ago. The $250 million
  bond program enabled the city to tear down blighted
  properties while salvaging other homes to be renovated and sold. A contractor will carry out the 8,000th demolition under the proposal on Friday.
• The Detroit Tigers will face the Texas Rangers on Friday, July 18, at Globe Life Field. The Tigers are currently No. 1 in the American league with a 59-38 record; and as they enter the second half of the season they are facing the 48-49 Rangers. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. ET.
• Detroit City FC will also face the Pittsburgh Riverhound SC on Friday at Keyworth Stadium. This game could determine positioning in the eastern conference playoffs. The game starts at
  7 p.m.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Michigan school districts face tough choices as their fiscal years began Tuesday while the Legislature remains deadlocked on the state K-12 budget.

The Republican-controlled House and the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, adjourned and left town earlier this week after it became clear they would not reach a deal by the July 1 deadline set in state law. There are big differences between the chambers’ differing versions and it appears possible if not likely the budget will hang fire into the fall.

“We’ve seen school districts passing budgets that make cuts, that pink slip employees, that dip heavily into their reserve funds that they aren’t supposed to be touching,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan.

McCann said this outcome was foreseeable as the budget process lagged months behind the typical process and missed key benchmarks, including getting initial versions adopted in the spring so they could move to bicameral, bipartisan conference committees to hammer out final versions. Those conference committee versions would have to be approved without amendments in up-or-down votes of the House and Senate before they would go to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature.

“And instead we were left with this sort of chaos situation of trying to scramble something together before the deadline and, ultimately, there wasn’t the will or the way to make that happen and it’s really because of months and months of inaction,” said McCann. “This failure has been happening over the past five, six months now of delays and inaction and seemingly not caring about the urgency of getting a K-12 budget done on time.”

There are no consequences to lawmakers for missing the July deadline, which was enacted by the Legislature after a 2007 deadlock between then Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and a politically divided Legislature led to a brief partial government shutdown.

The state’s fiscal year begins in three months on Oct. 1, when the Michigan Constitution requires a balanced budget to be signed.

Michigan lawmakers went home without passing a new budget for K-12 schools Thursday night. That’s despite, both meeting for hours and a statutory July 1 deadline for getting an entire state budget done.

It appears part of the holdup is how to handle earmarks for programs like free school lunches or mental health services. The Democratic-led Senate wants them maintained while the Republican-controlled House of Representatives wants to cut them in favor of giving districts more money per student.

House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) is also trying to get a road funding plan passed alongside the school budget.

Hall spoke to reporters Thursday night after spending hours negotiating with Senate leadership, the governor, and their teams. He said the leaders were leaving with “a roadmap” that will help them get a deal done next week.

“The House Republicans are committed to working through the weekend, working tomorrow, and working more tonight. Working over the weekend with our goal of still trying to get something done on roads and education by July 1,” Hall said.

Hall said he believed his Democratic counterparts worked better with added pressure from that deadline. He claimed the Senate adding more session days to its calendar for next week as a win.

The Senate had planned to take the first two weeks of July off.

All sides of the negotiating table say they’re optimistic about getting something done, acknowledging it would be difficult.

Reporters caught State Budget Director Jen Flood leaving the governor’s office at the state Capitol Thursday night. She said negotiators were “having great conversations,” when pressed for a comment.

Democrats, however, are still frustrated by the time crunch. They accuse House Republicans of delaying the process by waiting until a couple weeks ago to release their school budget proposal.

Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

“We are seeing a budget process that normally takes months to play out, playing out within a span of four to five days,” Farhat said. “We shouldn’t be in this spot right now where we’re five days before the [statutory] deadline contemplating whether or not we’ll have this budget. So school districts don’t have to keep wondering and teachers don’t have to keep wondering if they’re going to be pink slipped or not.”

Hall said he and House Republicans have been vocal about wanting to keep to the July 1 deadline for months. Democrats have as well, though some have raised doubts in recent weeks about that feasibility without having a complete budget proposal from the House.

The odds of passing a full state budget next week are dim.