A Tale of Two Privatizing Cities
Two mid-Michigan cities, Flint and Saginaw, are quietly using Mackinac Center recommendations from Michigan Privatization Report to improve the quality of municipal services in the face of budgetary challenges. … more
Charter Schools and Accountability
Director of Education Policy Matthew Brouillette explains at a recent conference of charter school officials how charter schools must serve two masters-government and the education marketplace. … more
Repeal the Prevailing Wage Act
Michigan's Prevailing Wage Act of 1965 is a costly piece of special-interest legislation that forces public schools to waste millions of dollars each year on inflated construction costs. … more
Government and Accountability
Michiganvotes.org, a new web site that posts plain-English descriptions of every bill, amendment, and vote, is enhancing state government's already admirable record of accountability. … more
Improving Public Schools
Over the past decade, the state of Michigan has laid some important groundwork for improving public education, but the continued lackluster performance of many schools argues the need for more choice and competition in the system. … more
Cruel and Unusual
State legislators should reform harsh "mandatory minimum" sentencing laws that dramatically lengthen prison sentences for many first-time drug offenders--while doing almost nothing to punish the "kingpins" the laws were supposed to target. … more
Proposal A and School Funding
An influential Lansing newsletter asks the Mackinac Center about school funding, Proposal A, and property taxes. … more
State Should Mind Its Own E-Business
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is moving forward with its plan to "wire" the state for high-speed, "broadband," Internet access. Mackinac Center scholars explain why this is a bad idea. … more
Supply and Demand and Labor
A student Asks the Economist to explain how the law of supply and demand functions in the labor market. … more
Teachers Declare Independence
Teachers at Island City Academy, an Eaton Rapids charter school, voted 12-1 Monday to oust the Michigan Education Association (MEA) as their collective bargaining agent.
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