Report: Michigan higher education hurt by funding cuts

[Bozita]

And every one of the GOP candidates for governor was advocating tax cuts.

Last Updated: August 09. 2010 12:44PM
Report: Michigan higher education hurt by funding cuts
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News


Michigan's declining investment in higher education is making it harder for students to complete degrees and for the state to recover from the poor economy, according to a new report released Monday by a nonpartisan organization.

The report, from the Michigan League for Human Services, found that state funding for the state's 15 public universities was cut 9 percent between 2006 and 2010. Meanwhile, tuition increased 31 percent, as the job market is moving away from manufacturing to a knowledge-based sector.

"This comes at a time when there's widespread public recognition that education is the key to prosperity, not only for individuals but for our struggling state as a whole," said Sharon Parks, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services. "We are talking the talk but not walking the walk in investing in Michigan's postsecondary system."

The report also showed that Michigan had the fifth-lowest investment in higher education and the seventh-highest tuition increases, when compared to the rest of the nation.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100809/METRO/8090390/1361/Report--Michigan-higher-education-hurt-by-funding-cuts#ixzz0w8OdkGfo


And this from a few days back ...


Last Updated: July 27. 2010 6:48AM
Report: Michigan slips in child well-being ranking
Tim Martin / Associated Press


Lansing -- Michigan's poor economy is taking a toll on children, particularly when compared with elsewhere in the nation, according to a report released today.

Michigan slipped to 30th in state-by-state overall rankings of child well-being in the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Michigan had ranked 27th in the previous report.

Michigan has had the nation's highest unemployment rate for much of the past four years and that's reflected in the rankings, which are based primarily on data from 2007 and 2008.

Michigan ranked 44th among the states with 31 percent of children living in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment in 2008. The national average was 27 percent.

"We hear a lot about unemployment, but I don't think people think about how that has an impact on kids," said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, the state's Kids Count director and a senior research associate with the Michigan League for Human Services. "When families don't have enough income or resources, their kids are continuing to grow and develop. You don't get a second chance."

The Kids Count report says 19 percent of Michigan children under age 18 lived in poverty in 2008, up from 14 percent in 2000. Poverty was defined in 2008 as income below $21,834 for a family of four.

Michigan ranked 32nd among states in child poverty in 2008.

more...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100727/METRO/7270376/1409/metro/Report--Michigan-slips-in-child-well-being-ranking#ixzz0w8Wj7m4Q