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150% In November, we released our “Context and Performance” report card for public high schools throughout Michigan. This is the Mackinac Center’s latest annual school report card. High school grades were calculated using the past four years of student academic achievement at each school, providing a more stable measure of school success. Star International Academy, a public charter school in Dearborn, was the top-scoring school in the state in 2014. This shouldn’t be a surprise Star International was No. 1 on the Center’s 2012 report card, too. While there are a number of other public school report cards, Mackinac Center experts are the first to measure school performance by accounting for student socioeconomic background. Since student background can have a tremendous impact on academic results, report cards that do not adjust for it run the risk of penalizing schools that serve high-poverty areas. ....
The Michigan Senate on Thursday approved criminal justice reform bills that would end automatic driver s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees not related to dangerous driving, a practice that advocates say traps people in poverty. Other criminal justice bills passed by the Senate on Thursday would eliminate mandatory jail time for some misdemeanor offenses and remove a barrier to occupational licenses for people with criminal records. Some of the bills will go back to the House for concurrence on minor changes before they are sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Organizations from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan to Safe & Just Michigan to Americans for Prosperity-Michigan praised the bills as a step in ending the overuse of Michigan s jails. ....