Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/author/jjames/page/2/)
STUDENT TEACHERS: To address the teacher shortage, Michigan will offer $10,000 in tuition help to 2,500 aspiring educators and pay student teachers $9,600 a semester. The changes are aimed at increasing the pipeline of teachers in Michigan. We speak to the head of the MEA, an education student and MSU College of Education official. By Janelle James. FOR ALL POINTS.
PUBLIC HEALTH EMPLOYMENT: More than a third of Michigan’s top county public health officers have left their jobs in the past year with burnout from the pandemic identified as a major reason. But there’s hope on the horizon with the uptick of students choosing public health majors. A dozen Michigan universities offer master’s degrees in public health, including Ferris, Grand Valley and Wayne State. We talk to the head of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health, officials at CMU and MSU as well as a public health major. By Janelle James. FOR DETROIT, BIG RAPIDS, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, WKTV and ALL POINTS.
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS: More after-school programs will open next year as the state passes out $24 million in COVID relief funds. Some programs that operated before the pandemic are expected to reopen. Detroit has just one slot per 300 kids, versus the national standard of one for every 200 children. We talk to a state education consultant and Winston Coffee, a coach with Midnight Golf in Detroit. By Janelle James. FOR DETROIT and ALL POINTS.
HOSPITALS: More therapy dogs and tourniquet emergency training are among the programs Michigan hospitals are investing in to better serve patients, officials say. The state’s hospitals invested more than $860 million in community-based partnerships and programming in 2020, according to a recent report by the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. By Janelle James FOR LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS AND ALL POINTS
AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES – Nine Michigan communities are working to help people age in place and hopefully, make life better for all, advocates say. An age-friendly community is a place where people of all ages can live comfortably, according to AARP, a non-profit organization that advocates for Americans over 50. We talk to Paula Cunningham, the leader of AARP Michigan, as well as East Lansing and Southfield officials. By Janelle James.
For LANSING CITY PULSE, WKAR, DETROIT NEWS, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL, WKTV and ALL POINTS.
INMATE CALLS – Prisoner phone calls are getting cheaper but some advocates say they should go even lower. The executive budget would replace $11 million collected on phone call surcharges with general fund dollars. The money is used for inmate education programs. We talk to a former inmate, a state advocacy group and the Michigan Department of Corrections. By Janelle James. FOR COLDWATER, ADRIAN, JACKSON, IONIA, MARQUETTE and ALL POINTS.
Michigan school enrollment fell by 53,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Of those students, 13,000 were in kindergarten.
According to Chalkbeat Detroit, Detroit Public Schools lost 2,719 or 5% of students, Lansing Public Schools lost 927 or 9% of students, Kalamazoo Public Schools lost 690 or 5% of students, and Traverse City has lost 552 or 6% of students.
The decline in kindergarten enrollment is concerning to teachers, principals, administrators, and parents across four districts in Michigan.
Principals say the slide is continuing
Gier Park Elementary in Lansing has grades Pre-K-3 and Principal Christopher Cadogan has seen decreases in enrollment. Photo courtesy Christopher Cadogan. “If we just look at last year, the 2019 to 2020 school year, we ended that year with 84 kindergarteners,” Cadogan said. “This year we’re at 75 and it’s not the end of the school year.”
Comparing this to the 2018-2019 school year, Cadogan said the school had even more students at 97 and you can really see the contrast between then and now.
Cadogan said kindergarten teaches developmental lessons and tries to provide students with the basic and foundational principles of reading and numeracy.
The high school class of 2020 missed out on many of spring activities including prom, graduation, honors assemblies, senior skip day, after schools transitioned to virtual learning.
The class of 2021 did not lose just half a semester but a year’s worth of activities.
In addition to missing staple senior year activities, virtual learning caused some students to struggle academically.
Last March, all students from kindergarteners to college students were sent home to finish the remainder of the school year virtually. While some schools continued virtual learning for the school year, other schools implemented some in-person learning.
Laingsburg Elementary School offers online and in-person learning. Students that opted for in-person learning meet with their teacher in the morning. Teachers use the afternoon to record videos and prepare online content for their virtual students.
In January, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she wished to see Michigan K-12 schools return to in-person instruction by March 1. Several of the state’s best K-12 front-line instructors, designated as top teachers in various award competitions, say how they think that can happen safely. Some have already been teaching in person. Others are waiting to return. Janine Scott
Janine Scott, Davis Aerospace Technical High School, Detroit, Michigan, Region 10 Michigan Teacher of the Year 2020-2021, 11th grade math teacher
“So, I am teaching virtually now, no in-class, and the governor said that she would like for all schools to have something open for kids.