Proposals to ban the chemical chlorine represent environmental extremism. Wild claims unsubstantiated by scientific evidence should not become the foundation of our public policy.
Two Central Michigan University professors argue that the unemployment insurance system is costly, bureaucratic, out-of-date, and in trouble. One solution is a privatized system of voluntary, tax-exempt Individual Unemployment Accounts.
Michigan dairy farmers who put cutting-edge research to work on the farm should beware: some people don't think that cows and science make a good combination. Will the public embrace science and economics or emotion and scare-talk masquerading as "environmentalism"?
Exempting Michigan's public school teachers from the Public Employment Relations Act would resolve the strike issue, remove barriers union policies have erected, and open the door for the advancement of good teachers.
Michigan's bureaucratic regulation of the intrastate trucking industry is not intended to protect the general public from harm. Rather, it is intended to protect existing truckers from aggressive competition in a free market. The sad case of a Grand Rapids company, Federal Armored, proves it.
Michigan's recent charter school legislation, a well-intentioned effort to introduce market forces into public education, suffers from stifling rules and regulations.
Detroit and other urban centers need a strategy that will address the urban sprawl problem and offer economic prosperity and growth opportunities to both cities and suburbs. That strategy must include reducing tax burdens and alleviating costly environmental regulations.
The Michigan legislature squandered an opportunity to reform education when it arrived at a Christmas Eve "compromise" package that largely reaffirmed the status quo-a watered-down charter school program, limited parental choice, and almost no cost containment.
Without additional spending, school administrators can take advantage of private sector expertise, accountability, and cost-effectiveness for public education.
Thanks to a 1937 law requiring state printing be done according to "prevailing wages," Michigan pays one-third more for printing lottery tickets than Indiana, Kentucky, and New York. Repealing it would save taxpayers more than $2 million.
Michigan's growth cities during the 1980s were also the ones that taxed and spent the least, while the state's declining cities taxed and spent the most. Detroit's dramatic decline was due in part to a tax burden seven times higher than the average Michigan municipality.
The Michigan Education Association claims to support more local control and site-based management but opposes charter schools and choice.
Per pupil spending and average teacher salary have little impact on student performance. Michigan needs to devote less attention to cash and more to strengthening the role of parents to make progress in improving education.
In more than 300 of Michigan's 524 K-12 public school districts, costly health insurance for school employees is administered by an organization whose practices are secretive and monopolistic.
When government seeks new revenues, "sin taxes" are among the first proposed. It should be recognized that cigarette taxes are regressive and smokers already pay the full costs of their habit.
Genuine school reformers say, "Change the system so schools can work better, and we will be happy to fund them." Unfortunately, many of those in the government education monopoly say, "Send the cash, keep the change."
Charter schools can transform the culture of public education into opportunities to do things better. Other states have shown they can inspire new ways of thinking about education.
Today, too many students have poor reading and writing skills, little motivation to learn, and minimal ability to reason. When East Harlem, New York, adopted a choice plan, student motivation and academic achievement improved dramatically.
The Mackinac Center's innovative Education Credit Account concept encourages schools to work harder and smarter to give parents hope for higher education for their children, whether they choose public or private schools.
Proponents of educational choice should not allow the opposition to depersonalize the debate. This commentary cites instances that show how the absence of choice hurts children.
