Tag Archives: Emergency Financial Manager Act

Middle class Michiganders to pay considerably more in taxes despite the anti-tax rhetoric of Lansing Republicans

By Mark | February 19, 2013

Reading an article in the Detroit Free Press this evening about how taxes are going up precipitously on working class Michiganders, I’m reminded of something that I wrote about a year ago for this site. Here’s how my post began. Why is it that we allow the Republicans to refer to themselves as the anti-tax [...]

Posted in Economics, Michigan, Observations, Politics | Also tagged anti-university, class warfare, crazy ideas that just might work, Earned Income Tax Credit, Ed Asner California Association of Teachers, EITC, Emergency Financial Manager, higher education, income disparity, income tax, Kickstarter, local income tax, Michael Stampfler, Michigan, Michigan Republicans, progressive taxation, public education, revolution, Rick Snyder, tax credits, tax policy, tax the rich, trickle down economics, we need a revolution | 20 Comments

Protecting us from the nonexistent threat of Sharia Law, putting guns in classrooms, restricting reproductive health care access for women, and resurrecting an Emergency Manager law that the people of Michigan have already said no to… these are the new priorities of our legislators in Lansing

By Mark | December 13, 2012

Do you remember, a week or so ago, when we were discussing the anti-abortion omnibus bill (HB 5711), often referred to in the national press as “the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion bill“? Well, it passed the Michigan Senate today, and, after a quick trip back to the House, where a few edits need to be [...]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged 5711, abortion, ALEC, Emergency Manager, HB 5711, Islamophobia, Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Senate, personal property tax, Proposition 1, reproductive justice, Senate Bill 865, Sharia law, women's rights | 36 Comments

Michigan’s 6 ballot proposals and how I intend to vote

By Mark | November 5, 2012

Other than trying my best to convince folks to vote for Syed Taj and Barack Obama, and against the likes of “mentally unbalanced” Tea Party-favorite Kerry Bentivolio, the race-baiting Pete Hoekstra, and the climate change denying serial liar Mitt Romney, I haven’t really said much about the upcoming election. To be honest, I didn’t think [...]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Alternative Energy, alternative fuels, ballot initiatives, Benton Harbor, Bill Clinton, charter schools, Citizens Research Council of Michigan, collective bargaining, Constitutional amendments, corporatocracy, disenfranchisement, dismantling of public education, Emergency Manager, fear mongering, fracking, Headlee Amendment, home health care workers, House Judiciary Committee, Kerry Bentivolio, Koch brothers, League of Women Voters, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Matty Moroun, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Muskegon Heights, Pete Hoekstra, Proposal A, Public Act 4, racism, renewable energy, Republican lies, Richard Murphy, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, SEIU, Syed Taj, threats to Democracy, union busting | 48 Comments

WISD Superintendent Scott Menzel on the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts

By Mark | July 15, 2012

A few days ago, I posted something here about the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts. Well, what I’d written was apparently brought to the attention of Scott Menzel, the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Scott asked for an opportunity to clarify a few things concerning the proposed merger, [...]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Sustainability | Also tagged Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, budget cuts, Chapelle, charter schools, civic involvement of students, community gardens, consolidation, curriculum, discipline, dismantling of public education, EAA, Early College Alliance, Eastern Leaders Group, Eastern Michigan University, education reform, Educational Achievement Authority, Emergency Financial Manger, Emergency Manager, Great Start Readiness Program, Head Start, Houghton Mifflin, Lead and Learn, Maria Cotera, mentorship, Muskegon Heights, New Tech HIgh School, persistently low achieving, PLA, privatization, public education, School Aid Act, school budget, school calendar, school vouchers, Scott Menzel, social justice, STEMTech, student court, United Way of Washtenaw County, urban agriculture, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Willow Run Community Schools, WIllow Run high school, WISD, Ypsilanti Area Community Fund, Ypsilanti Public School Alliance, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 10 Comments

Emergency Manager disbands public school system in Muskegon Heights, saying that the district will be “all charter” next year

By Mark | May 29, 2012

As you’ll recall, a few weeks ago, I mentioned here that the Philadelphia School District had been disbanded. Well, it looks as though Michigan may have just one-upped them, eliminating public education altogether, at least in one district… A reader of this site, who was, until recently, a teacher in the Detroit public school system, [...]