6/7/19 Gov. Whitmer journeys to Benton Harbor to defend high school closure plan. Any attempt to amend term limits faces Denno Research/Vanguard PA polling data showing voters like status quo. A legislator claims state could reap up to $800 million by selling the Blue Water Bridge and more. Republican John James says he’ll take another shot at the U.S. Senate, this time against incumbent Democrat Peters. Republican legislative leaders file suit against AG Nessel’s opinion that petition law reforms enacted last year are unconstitutional. Interview with Lance Binoniemi from MI Infrastructure and Transportation Association. Sponsored by www.DeadlineDetroit.com and www.Vanguard-pa.com.
Mr. Ballenger made an error in stating in this podcast that because of financial issues, Kalkaska schools closed and dissolved some years ago. Back in 1993, because of lack of funds to run their schools and after several attempts to raise millage to do so, Kalkaska Public Schools closed early rather than make further cuts to educational programs. A change in funding Michigan schools (Proposal A) was the result of schools not being able to raise enough local funds to operate back in the early 1990s. Michigan schools have never been the same, since local control has been lost to Lansing, where Michigan’s legislature and governor have taken nearly full control of public education in Michigan, including school finance. Overall, student achievement has suffered and instead of Michigan being a top 10 school state in the nation, in which case it was accustomed to, is now part of the bottom 10. See https://www.interlochenpublicradio.org/post/looking-back-kalkaska-schools-decision-end-1993-year-prematurely and https://www.kpschools.com/.