<p>Michigan’s jobless rate hit 14.1 percent in May, a near-26 year high, according to data released today by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth . </p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate rose by half a percentage point in May, to 9.4 percent.</p>
<p>I feel for you, UMdad. Have a lot of friends in Mich.</p>
<p>Very sad. I have a friend who lives in Michigan who just lost his job, the second time in the last couple of years that this happened to him, and is now eligible for food stamps. He says it feels kind of like the end of the world is near to a lot of people in Michigan.</p>
<p>I feel very, very sad for the young people in Michigan who cannot get jobs.</p>
<p>I grew up in Michigan, still visit my parents there frequently. I read something today (can’t recall where) that said that Michigan has been able to rely on an economy that did not require a high level of education (obviously heavily manufacturing focused). That fits in with my experience, my public school education in Michigan was not very good (U of Mich was great, but my high school was not good). The point of the article was that Michigan will have a tough time transitioning to more of a knowledge based economy because they have not had that focus in the past. Retraining programs have a hard time making up for a basically poor public education system… I know there are exceptions around the state, but this is a big, long term challenge for Michigan.</p>
<p>^^^The Dem governor is trying to address that problem, and the Repub legislator is not helping.</p>
<p>Part if it is philosophy; part of it is partisan politics.</p>
<p>
This is a problem with the US, not just Michigan.</p>
<p>Oregon is 12.4%, but is supposedly stabilizing.</p>
<p>Mr. Payne, I live in another part of the Midwest, now and I really think Michigan’s school systems are much worse than our local ones. My kids go to a local independent school, not the public school, so I don’t think I just have a “my kid’s school is good, everyone else’s is bad” perspective. The general education and intellect level of my current community is definitely a major step up from the Michigan community where I spend time, too. Which is a primary reason why I will never move back there…</p>
<p>I can agree that other states that rely heavily on manufacturing also have this issue, but Michigan’s economy is just so dependent on the auto industry. I did not grow up in Detroit, but almost all the major businesses in my hometown were manufacturing suppliers to the auto industry.</p>
<p>I continue to see ads on TV promoting Michigan as a good place to do business. I don’t see many ads from other states. At least Michigan is trying.</p>
<p>Ads can’t make up for what is literally generations of neglect for the public education system in the state, and a population that has resisted the idea that education is important right up until the final collapse of their economy.</p>
<p>Michigan is a great state and will recover someday. I hope at this time of great need that U of Michigan decides to share its huge multi-billion dollar endowment with the unfortunate instate kids. Delay the fancy campus buildings and monuments. The kids represent the future of Michigan.</p>
<p>My BIL teaches at the UMich, and he never seems to complain about things being bad up there in Mich. He lives in Ann Arbor, not very far from the university. </p>
<p>Do you think that the town of Ann Arbor, being a college town, is insulated from the down economy?</p>
<p>They try to tell us down here in New Orleans that we are not affected by the down economy, because we’re still in the Katrina rebuilding phase. That doesn’t help when your grocery bill is twice or triple what it was four years ago.</p>
<p>“Will the last person leaving Detroit please turn out the lights…”</p>
<p>Detroit could probably learn a few things from the city of Pittsburgh which along with the steel mills was the corporate center of, I think, 14 major corporations (think Gulf, USSteel, Alcoa, Heinz, Mellon). Now our medical center and universities and technology run our economy. Unfortunately, there are still a few people who are waiting for the rebirth of the steel mills.</p>
<p>Intparent: I don’t know what part of Michigan you lived in, but I certainly don’t find the public education system in all of Michigan to be as you described. There are certainly areas in which I would not send my kids to public schools. But then again, I would not want to live in those areas either.</p>
<p>I have lived all over the U.S. I find the public school system in Michigan to be excellent. I can’t remember which magazine lists the top 100 public schools in the U.S., but the number one was a school in Michigan. </p>
<p>The economy in Michigan is in trouble, and when that happens, it affects all areas of living. But generally, I think Michigan schools are great.</p>
<p>One thing that suprises me about Michigan schools is that for the most part they no longer are required to go 180 days. The state legislature mandated that schools cannot start before Labor Day to help with tourism. Instead of requiring 180 days, they imposed a min. number of hours per year. Most schools lengthened the day instead of lengthening the school year longer into June. Also snow days no longer have to be made up. </p>
<p>I have to believe that this is affecting the quality of education in Michigan. [Michigan</a> kids deserve longer school year - Michigan Political Report - Peter Luke - MLive.com](<a href=“http://blog.mlive.com/peterluke/2009/03/lawmakers_have_known_since_jan.html]Michigan”>Michigan kids deserve longer school year - mlive.com)</p>
<p>Also the school that is reported to be the number one public school I believe is International Academy in Bloomfield Hills. It’s a charter school which draws kids from all over the Detroit area. My D has a very good friend who went there and it is very good with a self selective student body who are very smart and motivated. I know that the kids from that school go to many of the most selective schools in the country.</p>
<p>Here is an uplifting thread from last month:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/716903-vacation-ideas-michigan-mid-october.html?highlight=michigan[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/716903-vacation-ideas-michigan-mid-october.html?highlight=michigan</a></p>
<p>I wonder if tourism could be the answer. Michigan’s roads worry me and I try not to think about the bridges. They’d have to make some improvements.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor and the Grand Rapids area are two of the brighter spots in the state.</p>
<p>I just looked through the high school rankings and they weren’t the best. Only one Michigan school made US News’ 100 Best List and 11 made the top 1000 on Newsweek’s list.</p>