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The latest reporting by Chalkbeat Detroit on the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy. Also includes occasional stories by Chalkbeat bureaus around the country, and a roundup of stories from other local and education-focused publications to keep you up to speed on what matters.


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Latest Detroit news

On Wednesday, groups that support students considered to be at-risk asked legislators to continue to increase funding for programs that benefit children with high needs.

Sherry Gay-Dagnogo cast the lone dissenting vote on Superintendent Nikolai Vitti’s contract extension, citing the timing of the vote.

Two years after first introduced, lawmakers began considering bills aimed at preventing violence in Michigan schools.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s accelerated plan to offer free preschool to all 4-year-olds in Michigan requires more teachers. Nonprofits plan to help bring more educators to the profession.

NAF, an education nonprofit, operates 30 career academies in 20 high schools in the Detroit Public Schools Community District

The majority of states in the U.S. don’t require kindergarten attendance.

The state has allocated $328 million to improve student mental health in 2024, but school mental health workers say it’s not enough.

Advocates say Davis Aerospace Technical High School – one of few training centers for student pilots in Michigan — is a critical resource for helping to address a national shortage of pilots.

As the state works to solve the ongoing teacher shortage, advocates are asking legislators to fund retention efforts in addition to educator pipelines.

Some requirements in the bills were changed in response to school officials’ concerns that staffing shortages would make compliance impossible.

Advocates say a recent wave of migrants and refugees to southeast Michigan have brought new students to Detroit schools. Here are the steps the district is taking to meet their needs in the short- and long-term.

One of the high points in the graduation rate data released Friday: the Lansing School District, where the rate has increased dramatically since 2021.

Friends of the Children works with kids who have adverse childhood experiences that include experiencing violence, abuse or neglect, having a parent who is addicted to drugs or alcohol or being placed in the foster care system.

The Detroit school board now must decide how it will spend the $94.4 million in literacy lawsuit settlement money.

Marie Feagins is the first outside leader to direct Tennessee’s largest school district since it was created through a merger a decade ago.

State payments on retirement debt freed up $670 million that is helping fund many of Whitmer’s education initiatives.

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