This Issues and Ideas Forum will present Mackinac Center findings from a review of more than 100 teachers union contracts, which analyzed the various ways school boards have attempted to comply with the 2011 reforms regarding teacher evaluations, placement and tenure. Our featured speaker will be Representative Ken Yonker, R-Caledonia, who will share his thoughts on the intent of the 2011 reforms and how districts have implemented them.

This Issues and Ideas Forum will look at the question from a free-market perspective. Our speakers will be Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and Helen Krieble, founder and president of The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation and creator of the “Red Card Solution,” a plan that could curb illegal immigration by offering non-citizen work permits that do not lead to citizenship.

Featuring Lawrence W. Reed, president emeritus of the Mackinac Center and current president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).

Our guests will discuss the benefits of different, emerging models of educational options and what is possible for Michigan.

This Issues and Ideas Forum features Dr. Ted Bolema, a Mackinac Center adjunct scholar and senior policy editor for the Mercatus Center in Washington, D.C. who will make the case for why Michigan needs to give Michigan electricity customers more options.

This Issues and Ideas Forum features Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation, Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Michael Reitz of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy who will discuss the need to define intent in Michigan criminal statutes.

Join Dr. Vedder for insights on this issue and hear his ideas to solve the high cost of a college education.