Education Beat:  Threat at ALA prompts backpack review; parliamentary woes continue to plague Flint school board
Jan28

Education Beat: Threat at ALA prompts backpack review; parliamentary woes continue to plague Flint school board

“Sunlight or prison walls: I’m going to go with sunlight and having windows.” –Kelly Fields, principal, Accelerated Learning Academy, Jan. 18, 2023 “There was nothing that happened here (ALA) on campus … The campus has been safe and secure.” –Keiona Murphy, assistant superintendent, Flint Community Schools (FCS) By Harold C. Ford The Flint Board of Education (FBOE) wrestled with two recurring issues – one national in scope and another...

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African-American artwork celebrated in three galleries at FIA
Jan28

African-American artwork celebrated in three galleries at FIA

By Tom Travis Three exhibits honoring and celebrating work by African-American artists will be featured at The Flint Institute of Arts (FIA) over the next few months. The FIA’s Contemporary wing will exhibit works from the FIA’s permanent collection of African-American artists and art of the African diaspora. In the Graphics gallery,  the exhibit Expressions will be on display until April 16. Expressions presents a...

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UM-Flint Chancellor gets 15% raise;  dozens top $100K in diverse salary picture as Strategic Transformation decisions appear close
Jan26

UM-Flint Chancellor gets 15% raise; dozens top $100K in diverse salary picture as Strategic Transformation decisions appear close

By Jan Worth-Nelson The University of Michigan – Flint’s top executive, Chancellor Debasish Dutta, received a 15% pay raise for the 2022-23 fiscal year, bringing his yearly salary to $469,000, according to publicly available sources. On average, the rest of the Flint university faculty and staff  received raises of about 3-5%.  The overall University of Michigan pay raise for 2022-23, was 4.1%. Asked for a response from...

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City of Flint allocates $15.6 million for Community Grants from ARPA funding;  applications open now
Jan24

City of Flint allocates $15.6 million for Community Grants from ARPA funding; applications open now

By Tom Travis Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include information about a webinar provided by the City of Flint on Feb. 2 for those wishing to apply for an ARPA Community Grant. The City of Flint has allocated $15.6 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for Community Grants. Applications are open now  for eligible organizations to compete for funds to serve Flint residents in three...

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Dysfunction and Democracy from Flint to Washington. Is Flint a model for the nation?
Jan23

Dysfunction and Democracy from Flint to Washington. Is Flint a model for the nation?

By Paul Rozycki For much of the 20th Century Flint was a leader for much of what mattered in the nation. It was home for one of the largest manufacturing corporations in the world. It was the place where one of the most progressive and influential labor unions in the nation stood up to that corporation and negotiated a labor agreement. It was known for its premier public school system. It was where a major foundation built a Cultural...

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