2025: What will the year bring in politics?
By Paul Rozycki During President Trump’s first weeks in office, we’ve seen more than 1,600 pardons; dozens of executive orders on everything from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to withdrawing from the World Health Organization; tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China; the firing or dismissal of federal employees; pausing (and unpausing) of federal grants; and suggestions that the U.S. should take over Greenland, the...
Education Beat: Charter schools, an advocate and a critic
By Harold C. Ford Chris Matheson and Vincent Price are both veteran Flint educators that are passionate about providing an excellent education for Michigan’s school-age children, but they disagree on whether charter schools can offer that education as they are currently constructed. “Charter schools have leveled the playing field and provided an opportunity to those without the ability to purchase the opportunity,” said Matheson,...
Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?
By Gordon Young Technically, the Michigan Times still exists, but it’s probably not what you think it is. When the University of Michigan – Flint student newspaper let its domain name lapse last year, it was a clear sign that the Michigan Times was in trouble. The publication that covered the downtown campus for more than 60 years is now officially “sunsetting” and will shut down completely at the end of the...
Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement
By Harold C. Ford After months of labor unrest, Flint Community Schools (FCS) and the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) have arrived at a settlement of issues, though details of the new agreement have not yet been made public. The agreement follows a “sick-out” and near-unanimous strike vote by teachers last month, and it was arrived at, according to Flint Superintendent Kevelin Jones, after 16 hours of bargaining during the...
Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint
By Gordon Young The Michigan Times, the student newspaper at UM-Flint, is officially “sunsetting.” That’s the sort of euphemism a good editor would slash and replace with something more clearcut. It’s a nice way of saying the publication that has been covering the downtown campus since 1959 is all but dead. The Times hasn’t published a print edition this year. Its website and online archive have...
Passed over by state in December, Flint public schools seek debt relief
By Harold C. Ford “Change must happen in Flint Community Schools, but we cannot do it alone.” – Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, Jan. 26, 2024 press statement Six financially distressed school systems in Michigan stand to benefit from debt relief legislation passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in December 2023, but Flint Community Schools (FCS) is not among them. ...
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