For about a year, Mayor Mary Sheffield has seemed to be riding high. To get elected, she mounted an impressive campaign, taking 77 % of the vote. Once in office, she hit the ground running.
The mayor has created new anti-poverty and community safety departments. Many have commented on her leadership skills, balancing confidence and intellect with openness, and a willingness to listen.
That was true during the summer, when a number of kids were participating in “teen takeovers.” The police department imposed a curfew, but Sheffield also took the time to listen to teens, to ask them what it was that they needed and wanted from their city.
Now, the mayor’s office is under scrutiny.
Sheffield’s ex-boyfriend, Marvin Walker, says when she was council president, she took $200,000 in kickbacks from city real estate deals. She denies that.
Walker also had private photographs of the two of them. A Detroit activist posted them on Facebook. Sheffield calls it harassment.
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison called the two men and asked them to take the photos down. Weeks later, police seized one man’s phone. The city’s Inspector General is now investigating the chief of police.
Those are a lot of details. So what do we actually know?
Detroit Free Press investigative reporter Violet Ikonomova has been looking into this. She spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent.
The Metro invited Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield onto the show. Her office has not responded.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
In Michigan, it’s never a bad idea to boost your relationship with auto workers — or ties to the auto industry.
Republican Mike Rogers spent 14 years in Congress, but before that he was an FBI agent and worked on cars.
“I started out in a car factory building Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. It’s a really good car. I love that car,” Rogers told reporters in Madison Heights this week.
Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Mike Rogers campaigns in Michigan in September 2026
Rogers worked in a non-union shop in the early 1980s making modifications to already-assembled cars.
His opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, is more white collar. He holds medical and public health degrees. However, he has blue collar backing — specifically, the United Auto Workers union.
In an interview with Michigan Public Radio, UAW President Shawn Fain explained why El-Sayed is the choice for the union’s nearly 1 million current and retired members.
“We’ve got to elect people that give a damn about workers, and not billionaires and corporate-class people,” Fain said. “I mean, and unfortunately, our political system has been hijacked by the richest people in the world.”
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race could help decide the balance of power in Washington D.C. next year. The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada is just simmering under the surface.
Tariffs aren’t always the bad guy
Fain doesn’t outwardly dislike certain taxes on imports.
“We support strategic targeted tariffs. Blanket tariffs on everything under the sun, or tariffs just to force a country to do something for political reasons? That makes no sense whatsoever,” Fain said.
“And the 50% on Canada, we don’t agree with that. Like Canada is not the problem.”
The Trump administration has placed 50% tariffs on $27.6 billion in Canadian goods and materials. The Canadian government has responded with equal levies.
A strained relationship
Marchers at this month’s Labor Day Parade in Detroit weren’t happy about the tariffs or how we’re treating our closest trade partner. Retired tool and dye man Stan Geis was one of many who carried a sign emblazoned with images of an American flag and the Canadian maple leaf.
The message: “Solidarity. We stand with our neighbor.”
“I liked when we had the trade across the border … with men working in our country from Canada (going) back and forth. It was good. Now it just stinks.”
Sign at the Labor Day Parade.
That’s not to say the relationship between the UAW and the workers of UNIFOR — the Canadian auto workers union — hasn’t hit some potholes.
John D’Agnolo is the president of UNIFOR Local 200 across the border in Windsor. Southern Ontario is home to factories of several major automakers.
He says American autoworkers sometimes have the wrong idea.
“They think that we’re taking from them when we’re not.”
D’Agnolo has just wrapped up a grueling two weeks in contract negotiations with automaker Stellantis.
They’re not going well. Stellantis aims to sell an idled Jeep plant in Brampton, Ontario, to an armored car company.
D’Agnolo said the inconsistent tariffs are making the bargaining process more difficult.
“The challenge with these tariffs and not knowing what you’re going to get from day to day,” D’Agnolo said. “Companies are not going to invest in new programs.”
Uncertainty in Canada
Windsorites get all the Michigan political ads from Detroit-area TV stations. D’Agnolo said the current political climate is only fueling anxiety.
“You have to turn off the TV because you don’t want to hear it because it becomes your life. It becomes now you got mental issues because you’re worried,” D’Agnolo said.
“So yeah, it’s horrible right now.”
Opposite sides
In the U.S. Senate race, the two main party candidates are on opposite sides of the trade war.
El-Sayed doesn’t like that President Trump picked a fight with Canada.
“There’s a way that tariffs could be used to actually protect jobs. This ain’t it. Like all things Donald Trump, it is chaotic, ham-fisted, self-serving,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed points out that his Republican opponent was an advocate for free trade until this latest round of tariffs.
For his part, Rogers told C-SPAN this week he plans to collaborate with Trump in a way El-Sayed will not.
“I will go back to work with the president on tariffs that are working and work with the president on tariffs that are not working,” Rogers said.
“You know, my opponent, all he wants to do is fight with Trump.”
Cost of tariffs
A conservative free market organization, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation — says President Trump’s tariffs are costing Michigan households an extra $5,600 per year.
That’s the third-highest in the nation behind California and Texas.
Steve Grigorian heads the influential Detroit Economic Club. He thinks that could play a role in the election.
“We’re business people, but we go to the grocery store, we go to fill up our gas tank. So it’s definitely top of mind. I think it will definitely be top of mind as people go to the polls”
Ballots for the November election were sent out this week. Election Day is less than six weeks away.
One of the most watched races across the country is in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. That area includes Lansing, East Lansing, and the farm counties and exurbs around them, out to Livingston County and the edge of Oakland County.
Republican Congressman Tom Barrett won the seat two years ago by less than four points, and both parties think it could decide who has a majority in the House of Representatives. Barrett’s opponent is progressive Democrat Will Lawrence. The Metro spoke with him last week.
Barrett spent 22 years in the Army. He was deployed to Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, and served nearly a decade in the state legislature before going to Washington.
Over the weekend, President Trump rejected an Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The war has continued, and so has the increasing cost of gas prices.
Congressman Barrett joined The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent to discuss where his positions overlap — and don’t — with President Trump’s, and what his plans are if he’s able to keep his seat.
In the conversation, Congressman Tom Barrett said that over 10 million undocumented immigrants flooded across our border when then-President Joe Biden was in office.
Research from the conservative Cato Institute estimates that the net increase in the undocumented immigrant population during the Biden administration was closer to about 5.5 million people. That’s because millions of people were expelled, deported or returned to their home country or Mexico before President Donald Trump took office.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Chaos. That’s the trend line in the auto sector of our economy. A war in Iran has raised gas prices. A Trump administration antagonistic to electric vehicles has reshaped the auto industry, causing Stellantis, General Motors and Ford to lose a combined $52 billion as they’ve shifted away from their electric investments.
And through it all, the Trump administration has enacted tariffs. Recently, they’ve gotten steeper.
In August, America enacted new tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. Canada responded with tariffs on many US goods, including those aforementioned products.
What do these trends mean for auto companies and auto workers? How are customers affected? And, how are both parties trying to adapt to rapidly changing policies?
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Many have an opinion about Detroit’s Renaissance Center.
Some view it as ugly, detached from the city, and with General Motors having moved out, they believe it should be redeveloped.
And then there are people who like the RenCen. They see its tallest towers as an emblem of the city. They’re often the same people who argue that pouring public money into its redevelopment will detract from other priorities — things like schools, public transit, and housing that teachers and nurses can afford.
This question — whether a large public-private project is worth it for the public — has come into sharper focus. That’s because GM and Bedrock are now asking for just under $550 million to subsidize the redevelopment of the RenCen. That’s up from about $350 million when they first announced the plan.
Jared Fleisher is the CEO of Bedrock. He spoke about the plan with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent. Later, Anne Goulet joined the conversation. She is the principal of two firms, ARGitct and Anne R Goulet Architecture and Design.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Control of the Michigan Legislature is on the line in this year’s midterm elections. As part of WDET’s weekly series, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss 10 races they believe could flip from one party to another. They are joined by Gongwer Assistant Editor Elena Durnbaugh, who covers the state House.
One of the topics heading into this election is whether the national political environment will affect local results. Durnbaugh says that if it does, local politicians will need to respond accordingly.
“…the national environment, where we have a situation where we have a Republican president who is deeply unpopular. It’s a midterm. People are looking for change that means that if you’re a Republican in a seat, you’re going to have to work harder to keep it.”
Durnbaugh said politicians’ voting records and what they have done while in control of the Legislature could also push voters one way or another.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
With only a couple of months left until the midterms, Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates are trying to build support in their bids to become the state’s next governor. This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss how this race for governor differs from previous ones.
They are joined by Andrea Bitely, founder of the public relations firm Bitely Communications.
The race drawing the most attention in Michigan so far is the U.S. Senate race between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers. As for the gubernatorial race between Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Rep. John James, Bitely says it isn’t garnering the same level of attention.
“The gubernatorial race is potentially the most boring gubernatorial race in the history of gubernatorial races.”
Bitely continued by saying that after Mayor Mike Duggan dropped out, the race lost some of its interest for her.
“I think it got a lot more boring on May 21st [2026]. But maybe that’s just the the Duggan campaign staffer in me coming out.”
May 21 was the day Duggan dropped out of the race for governor.
Bitely concluded that to draw more attention to the gubernatorial race and their respective campaigns, the candidates need more rallies and events, along with a resounding message that sticks with voters.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today. Give now »
Meanwhile, reported hate crimes against Muslims jumped seventeenfold in one year. They have never returned to where they were.
Almost none of that machinery was ever dismantled. So, we’re wondering how has American politics changed — and how hasn’t it — since September of 2001.
Ali Harb is a freelance journalist based in Washington D.C. He covers American politics, U.S. foreign policy, and politics in the Middle East. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand. Never miss an episode – subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube,NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
According to a Politico poll, 72% of Americans say there’s too much money in politics. Respondents said special interest spending leads to corruption that should be restricted.
In Michigan, a local campaign believes residents can have a stronger, more representative democracy if political spending by some big-time actors is limited.
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics measure, which is now on the November ballot, would change some aspects of how money gets into the hands of politicians and political candidates.
Voters decide Nov. 3, though opponents have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to block it.
Sean McBrearty is the executive committee co-chair for the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign. He spoke with producer and host Robyn Vincent about what happens if the ballot measure passes.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Detroit voters created a board of civilian commissioners in 1974 with the power to investigate their own police department. Eleven members. Its own staff of investigators.
Victoria Camille represents District Seven on the oversight board. She’s circulating a petition to get that access back. And Thursday afternoon, she was prepared to vote on whether Detroiters can still speak to her board from home.
Commissioner Camille spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about what the police oversight board can actually do to hold cops accountable and whether some of its power has weakened.
Editor’s Note: After this segment aired, the motion to limit public comment options to solely in-person attendees was rescinded.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Since the pandemic, Michigan schools have faced a persistent problem: Students are not showing up enough to class.
In Detroit public schools, the chronic absenteeism rate has been higher than the rest of the state’s. Recently, that number has been decreasing.
In just one school year, chronic absenteeism dropped 10 percentage points. Even in comparison with other high-poverty school districts, a recent report shows Detroit public schools have been the most effective in the state at boosting attendance rates.
Why? And, should other school districts take note of what’s happening in Detroit’s schools?
Jeremy Singer is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at University of Michigan-Flint, and does research with Wayne State. He helped write that report, and spoke about it with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
That’s in part because of the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. If Democrats lose, their path to a Senate majority all but closes.
The race can tell us a lot about the direction of the Democratic Party — what is seen as acceptable to voters, and what appears too extreme.
That’s because trends here represent things happening elsewhere, in places where manufacturing is declining but still deemed important, where wages are stagnating, and where younger people are leaving in hopes of finding greener pastures in other states.
So, how should we be looking at the Senate race between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers? What does it tell us about the politics of the median Michigan voter? And what does it say about the kinds of politics that are possible.
Adrian Hemond is the CEO of the bipartisan advocacy firm, Grassroots Midwest. He’s also a longtime Democrat. He spoke with The Metro‘s Sam Corey.
Editor’s Note: In this conversation, Adrian Hemond said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has associated with people who have committed acts of antisemitism. He did not name anyone on air, and we did not press him to at the time. We should have. WDET asked Hemond afterward for specifics and reviewed what he provided. None of it involved conduct by Dr. El-Sayed, and we found no evidence supporting the claim as stated. We should not have let it air unchallenged.
An earlier version of this note included material that did not meet our editorial standards.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Ballot proposal drama, the significance of a report on the Flint water crisis and mixed feelings about funding for a copper mine. There was a lot to cover this week.
On MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben break down the week’s major headlines with The Detroit News’ Beth LeBlanc.
One of the main headlines was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urging lawmakers to send new versions of nine vetoed bills to her this fall. LeBlanc says she understands the move but doesn’t think it will succeed.
“Those nine bills passed through a Democratic trifecta. Right now, the makeup of the House and Senate is very different. Matt Hall held up these bills for a year, and many in his caucus don’t agree with these bills. I don’t really know if they have any chance of getting to the governor at this point,” LeBlanc said.
The governor received a lot of pushback when she vetoed the bills nearly six weeks ago.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Wayne County has reported its first human case of West Nile virus this year.
The Wayne County Public Health Division says the person who contracted the mosquito-borne illness does not live in the county.
Chief Medical Health Officer Avani Sheth reminds residents that mosquito season is not over. She recommends limiting time outdoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active, and removing standing water from properties, where mosquitoes can breed.
Hip-Hop Theater Festival comes to Detroit this weekend
Detroit-based music artist collective Beat Rhymes Everything Detroit, or BRED, is hosting the Hip-Hop Theater Festival this weekend.
The event is the culmination of a 16-day period in which playwrights came together to create four new plays inspired by narrative hip-hop songs.
The festival will feature a hip-hop improv showcase, a hip-hop family hour and an all-ages play.
The festival runs Aug. 28-30 at the Hilberry Gateway, 4715 Cass Ave. in Detroit. Events begin at 7 p.m. Aug. 28.
Art on the Avenue celebrates Detroit art, design and culture
A celebration of art, design, culture and community is coming to Detroit’s historic Livernois Avenue of Fashion on Sept. 5.
Art on the Avenue 2026 will bring galleries, artists, creative businesses and retailers together along the corridor for exhibitions, art showcases, live entertainment and more.
Participating galleries include Jo’s Gallery, Sherwood Forest Art and Art in Motion.
More information is available on the events page at Detroit Month of Design.
Kroger plans two new metro Detroit stores
Kroger is investing $73.5 million to build two new metro Detroit stores in Dearborn and Commerce Township.
Both stores are set to open in 2027 and will replace existing nearby Kroger locations. Together, the new stores are expected to employ roughly 350 people.
The Dearborn store will be located at Ford Road and Mercury Drive and will replace the Kroger at 15255 Michigan Ave. It is expected to open in June 2027.
A third Kroger proposed as part of a mixed-use development in Royal Oak is awaiting full municipal approval.
I-696 access to I-75 to be restored
Access from westbound I-696 to I-75 is expected to be restored Aug. 31.
Motorists traveling westbound on I-696 will regain access to both the northbound and southbound I-75 ramps.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, both directions of I-696 and associated ramps are expected to reopen by the end of the year.
Additional work is planned along both sides of I-696 between I-75 and Dequindre Road in 2027.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed ran the health departments of both Detroit and Wayne County. Three weeks ago he won a U.S. Senate primary by roughly 15,000 votes statewide, and lost Detroit by nearly 2-1.
Seven miles away in Dearborn and Hamtramck, he took 78 and 82%, respectively.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
A week ago, the Dearborn City Council moved its meeting to the public library because they expected a crowd. Police were outside in riot gear. Wayne County sent officers on horses. By the next morning, 22 people had been arrested from across Michigan, and from as far as New York and Tennessee.
What brought all this on was a man with a megaphone who told the council that Muslims had come here to steal, and that their time in this country was running short.
Amy Doukoure is the lead staff attorney for CAIR-Michigan, a nonprofit dedicated to combatting anti-Muslim hate locally. She spoke with host Robyn Vincent about why anti-Muslim hate is rising, and what can be done to stop it.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
What should we make of the climate movement’s accomplishments over the last decade?
On one side, the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act helped distribute clean energy across the country. Those policies dropped solar prices — 90% over the last decade. Battery storage costs fell by the same amount from 2010 to 2020.
But the Green New Deal never passed, and many Republicans in Michigan and across the U.S. are against a clean energy transition. President Donald Trump has consistently said climate change isn’t real and the world continues to warm at a rapid clip.
Jay Inslee has been at the center of the climate movement. He was governor of Washington for three terms, and a presidential candidate in 2020 when he pushed Democrats to take climate change more seriously.
What does he make of our climate politics today? And where should the climate movement go next?
The Metro’s Sam Corey recently spoke with Inslee when he was in town stumping for Jocelyn Benson in her bid for governor.
The Metro has reached out multiple times to the campaign for Republican John James for governor. They have not yet given us a time when the candidate is available to join us.
A few notes about this conversation:
Inslee mentioned a Washington ballot measure on climate that won 62 percent of the vote. That was a 2024 vote on whether to scrap the state’s climate program — the one that makes big polluters pay for what they emit. Voters chose to keep it.
He also cited a Washington vote on electric school buses. That wasn’t a ballot measure — it was a bill, passed by the Legislature in 2024.
He said President Trump’s White House construction and renovation projects will cost $800 million. According to Reuters, those projects are now more than $900 million.
Inslee said that 80% of rural voters supported a clean energy ballot initiative in Washington. We could not verify that.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
This has been a hard moment for many Jewish people. Antisemitism has been on the rise, and Americans’ views of Israel are now mostly negative.
Those are big changes. And they’re translating into political shifts.
It’s unknown how a majority of liberal Jewish residents voted during the Democratic Senate Primary. But a lot of older Jews are unsure of how to vote now that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee. Do they support him or do they vote for Republican Mike Rogers?
This question carries weight beyond the election itself. It represents larger quandaries about what it means to be Jewish, about what antisemitism actually is, and about whether one can feel warmth toward Israel while being critical of its government.
Andy Levin organized for unions and served as president of his synagogue before running for office. His uncle, Carl Levin, served 36 years in the U.S. Senate, and his father, Sander Levin, served 36 in the House of Representatives. Andy Levin won his father’s seat in 2018 and held it for four years. Then redistricting put him in a primary against Congresswoman Haley Stevens. A super PAC tied to AIPAC spent more than $4 million to beat him, and it worked.
Levin spoke with host Robyn Vincent about why he’s supporting El-Sayed, and why many Jewish Metro Detroiters are struggling in this political moment.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Governor Whitmer as well as governors across the country have a decision to make regarding a federal program in connection with the Reconciliation Program. This week on MichMash…WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow unpack the details of this program. They are joined by Prof Josh Cowen of Michigan State University and Peter Spadafore who leads the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity.
Cowen is known for being the nation’s leading critics of school voucher programs, but says this program is much different and offers real opportunities for public and private school students. “Unlike any other state voucher program that I have opposed…public school students can use this and they don’t have to exit the public schools to use it, there is a real revenue stream that is definitely available to public schools. That is not true for regular voucher programs.”
Spadafore, is against public schools oppose opting in to the credits because, ” It starts with a long standing opposition to any type of voucher program and this is unequivocally a voucher program. It’s public dollars for private schools. We stand in opposition to that. We have done so along with the voters of Michigan who have twice rejected these types of schemes alongside Governor Whitmer, who vetoed an education savings program that was passed by the legislature a few years back.” Governor Whitmer hasn’t indicated whether she would make a decision to opt in during the last months of her tenure.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Login
