Close, but no deal between DPS, teachers

Detroit Public Schools teachers will head into the Thanksgiving break without a new union contract, as both sides say bargainers fell shy of brokering a tentative agreement despite significant progress. - 11/25/2009

Utica schools employees asked to take furloughs

Utica -- Utica Community Schools officials are asking employees to take a voluntary, unpaid three-day furlough this school year. - 11/25/2009

Troy High School alumna Jean Junior named Rhodes scholar

For Jean Junior the next step is medical school. That's what the Rhodes and Fulbright scholar has next on her plate. Junior had a medical school interview at Harvard on Monday and then she said she's headed back to the South African clinic where she works with patients who have HIV and tuberculosis. She was named a Rhodes scholar Saturday and earned a Fulbright scholarship for her work in South Africa this spring. - 11/24/2009

• More information on the Rhodes Scholarships

Detroit Public Schools sues witnesses in bond money case

Detroit -- Detroit Public Schools filed a lawsuit Monday in Wayne Circuit Court against witnesses who school officials say are refusing to testify in investigative hearings on how $1.5 billion in bond money was spent. - 11/24/2009

DPS, teachers extend contract, cite progress

Detroit -- A contract between Detroit Public Schools and its teachers union has been extended again, with both sides saying they made strides over the weekend with the help of a national union leader at the bargaining table but still came up shy of a new agreement. - 11/23/2009

WSU student rally pushes restoration of scholarships

Hundreds of Wayne State University students rallied on campus Monday to urge state lawmakers to restore their college scholarships. Students wore yellow T-shirts, waved signs and chanted "Keep the Michigan Promise!" in protest of a decision by lawmakers to eliminate the $140 million Michigan Promise Scholarship. - 11/23/2009

Sparks fly at mobile science center

Redford Township --For Thurston High School freshmen, a field trip to the National Science Center was a short jaunt across the parking lot, where an 18-wheel Mobile Discovery Center was stationed Thursday and Friday. - 11/23/2009

School gets lesson in 1989

History treasure trove unearthed

Sterling Heights -- It took several holes in the lawn and two weeks longer than planned, but students and staff at Walsh Elementary School on Friday finally found and dug up a 20-year-old time capsule buried on the school's property. - 11/21/2009

Students stung by Promise cuts

With just weeks before the end of the fall semester many college students are unsure if Promise Scholarship money will be available for next term or how they might replace the funding. - 11/20/2009

• CyberSurvey: Do you depend on Promise Grants for your college budgeting?

DPS will ask court to make witnesses testify

While some key witnesses have agreed to testify before a hearing into questionable Detroit Public Schools real estate deals, others could face a court order to compel them to appear. - 11/20/2009

MSU gets federal funding to help study wind speeds

Lansing -- Michigan State University will receive $83,806 to measure wind speeds in five areas around the state. - 11/20/2009

Granholm asks college students to lobby for return of Promise funding

Royal Oak -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm pleaded for help from students at Oakland Community College's Royal Oak campus to try and restore the Michigan Promise scholarship program by contacting their legislators. Her visit was a continuation of her swing through Michigan to try to restore the grants for 96,000 students, despite declarations from senate Republicans that the promise will remain broken. - 11/20/2009

DPS to file lawsuit for witness testimony in real estate probe

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb said today he'll file a suit in Wayne County Circuit Court to force testimony from four witnesses who have refused to participate in hearings targeting questionable real estate deals. - 11/19/2009

• Detroit's Southwestern High loses football title for ineligible players

Tough job for Detroit's academic czar

While Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is the school district's showman who woos the public with his no-nonsense message and anti-corruption results, Barbara Byrd-Bennett is the behind-the-scenes policy strategist charged with the arguably tougher job: dramatically improving student achievement in the country's most troubled urban school district. - 11/19/2009

Gov. Granholm urges students to fight for Promise Grants

East Lansing -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm took her case to restore funding for Promise Grants to college campuses Wednesday, scolding lawmakers for taking time off without resolving the issue. - 11/19/2009

WSU provost Nancy Barrett to step down

Detroit -- Nancy Barrett will step down as provost of Wayne State University at the end of the school year, and will join the economics faculty, Wayne State University President Jay Noren announced Wednesday. - 11/19/2009

OU profs call for vote against president

Just months after going on strike, some Oakland University professors are calling for a vote of no confidence in the school's president. - 11/19/2009

DPS hearings provide little information

Just about everyone who has been called as witnesses -- from former school board members to real estate brokers -- during four hearings on why Detroit Public Schools overspent millions in taxpayer money has blamed everyone else or has claimed critical decisions were not their responsibility. - 11/19/2009

DPS, teachers' union agree to try to turn around failing schools

Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb and his academic czar, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, are trying to do what no leadership team has done in Detroit in decades: Make failing schools work again. - 11/19/2009

Dearborn students take fight against school cuts to Lansing

Hundreds of students from Dearborn's Fordson High School on Tuesday boarded four buses for a trip to the state Capitol to protest school cuts passed by the state Legislature. - 11/18/2009

WSU provost Nancy Barrett to step down

Detroit -- Nancy Barrett will step down as provost of Wayne State University at the end of the school year, and will join the economics faculty, Wayne State University President Jay Noren announced Wednesday. - 11/18/2009

DPS lawsuit against Detroit catches some off guard

Detroit Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit on Friday over property taxes, but by Monday district leaders wanted to take the words back. - 11/17/2009

Fire closes Augusta Twp. high school

Augusta Township -- Lincoln High School is closed today following an early morning fire in a science room storage area. - 11/17/2009

Superintendent takes over Romeo schools amid school board recall

Romeo -- The superintendent of Romeo Community Schools is taking the reins amid multiple challenges, including a potential $127-per-pupil statewide funding cut and a recall campaign against three school board members. - 11/16/2009

U-M, MSU among U.S. leaders in international studies

Ann Arbor -- A new report says the University of Michigan and Michigan State University are among the national leaders in international educational exchange. - 11/16/2009

Public school district audits to be released today

The Michigan Department of Education is expected today to release audits of public school districts, which include a financial analysis and overall recommendations. - 11/16/2009

Metro Detroit school districts among dozens yet to file audits

Hazel Park --Nearly 70 of Michigan's 840 school districts have not yet turned in their financial audit reports to the Michigan Department of Education as of 4 p.m. Monday. Audits are due every Nov. 15, but since that day fell on a Sunday, the deadline was extended a day. If they wait too much longer, they risk losing state aid. - 11/16/2009

Conference encourages Detroit students to graduate

Detroit -- Community leaders came together today for a day-long conference aimed at keeping city students in school. - 11/14/2009

Thinking ahead

Southfield school starts kids on adult principles of success

Southfield -- Some are still missing front teeth but these 6- to-9-year-old students are already learning skills to become successful adults. - 11/14/2009

State schools head urges compromise on reforms

State school Superintendent Mike Flanagan on Thursday urged lawmakers and the state's largest teachers union to compromise on education reforms required within 60 days to qualify Michigan for up to $400M through President Barack Obama's Race to the Top education initiative. - 11/13/2009