Education Beat:  Mixed results on post-pandemic assessment data for area schools
Sep30

Education Beat:  Mixed results on post-pandemic assessment data for area schools

By Harold C. Ford Area student performance in the first post-pandemic year, 2022-2023, offers a mixture of good and bad news, according to data provided by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), with Flint students showing a small gain in one area and losses in two others. In all three cases, Flint area student performances were far below state percentages, consistent with the numbers before the pandemic. Data collected during...

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Commentary: What lies ahead for Flint’s colleges? — Centennials, conflict, change, and challenges
Sep29

Commentary: What lies ahead for Flint’s colleges? — Centennials, conflict, change, and challenges

By Paul Rozycki The University of Michigan-Flint has a new chancellor; Mott Community College’s president is applying for a position in Kentucky; Kettering University has a new vice president, is looking to a “transformational decade”; and, since 2005, the Flint Community Schools have had eight superintendents and are facing dramatically declining enrollment while dealing with empty and crumbling school buildings. It may be time for...

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Taliah Abdullah, new Gloria Coles Flint Public Library director:  “Community is at the heart of who I am”
Sep28

Taliah Abdullah, new Gloria Coles Flint Public Library director: “Community is at the heart of who I am”

By Canisha Bell and Jan Worth-Nelson “I believe in community – community is at the heart of who I am as an individual, what I believe in and why I became a librarian.” That’s how Taliah Abdullah, executive director of the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library since July 24, described her commitments and values in a wide-ranging recent interview with East Village Magazine. Abdullah, finishing her second month as the library’s top...

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City council approves Phase 2 of the Buick City Redevelopment Plan – using a complex financing model
Aug25

City council approves Phase 2 of the Buick City Redevelopment Plan – using a complex financing model

By Tom Travis The Flint City Council has approved an embattled resolution for the city to release the 350-acre former Buick City brownfield to developer Ashley Capital. Ashley Capital is under contract to purchase the site from Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust. Ashley officials plan to develop a state-of-the-art industrial park expected to bring about 3,000 jobs to the City of Flint — jobs paying...

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Education Beat:  New school year starts with $156 million ESSER funding moves; new backpack policy in place,  administrative changes announced;  Washington demo delayed; MSU partnership renewed
Aug21

Education Beat: New school year starts with $156 million ESSER funding moves; new backpack policy in place, administrative changes announced; Washington demo delayed; MSU partnership renewed

By Harold C. Ford A new academic year at Flint Community Schools (FCS) began Aug. 9, as students reported back to school under a newly-adopted backpack policy. The day before, on Aug. 8, several changes in administration positions were announced by FCS Superintendent Kevelin Jones in a press statement. And at its Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, also on Aug. 9, the Flint Board of Education (FBOE): gained clarity on the status of...

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