MI SoundBoard

If you're a small business owner you are always on the search for talent. How does long-term educational attainment correlate to meeting the needs of small businesses? In this episode Small Business Association of Michigan President, and former school board member,  Rob Fowler joins us to discuss these very topics and more!

In this episode, interim State Superintendent Sheila Alles joins us to talk about her priorities to carry on the late Brian Whiston's fight for public education. With her 40-plus years of public education experience, she's armed and ready to discuss what's to come next from the Michigan Department of Education.

Program proposals are constantly passing through the desks of local school districts. What ones warrant attention over others? In this episode, we sit down with two trainers from the Michigan Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative and talk about early intervention and positive behavior intervention systems, and why these programs work.

What if you have a legislator who just doesn't hear you when it comes to your community's education issues? How can you be the catalyst for change? In this episode, we sit down with Government Relations staff from the Michigan Association of School Boards and Michigan Association of School Administrators to discuss the power of consistent advocacy and engagement in your legislative process.

What does it take to serve on a board of education? MASB staff, all of which who are or have been board members, gather to discuss Michigan's Get On Board campaign geared toward recruiting school board members that are civic-minded and accurately reflect a community. Are you interested in serving on a school board? Do you know someone who is? Tune in to this special edition!

What hot topics are broadly effecting facets of Michigan's education community? In this episode, leaders from Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA), Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO) and Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) join host Don Wotruba to discuss not only what those issues are, but what is being done collectively to combat issues to prioritize what's most important: our students. 

Brandy Johnson, Executive Director for Michigan College Access Network, joins us for this episode to look at how this eight-year-old organization is trying to bridge the gap of the K12 community and postsecondary education opportunities (and what is included as an option for students). Right now, Michigan holds around 44% educational attainment. We need to be around 60-70% to meet the labor demands of the market.

Ron French, reporter for Michigan's award-winning Bridge Magazine joins MASB for this episode to discuss possibilities to why Michigan didn't make it to the final round of Amazon's second world headquarters and how improved education attainment and workforce retention could have possibly yielded different results. Also in this episode, we cover college access, letter grading and student growth. This and more!

Michigan State Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Township) joins us for this episode of MI SoundBoard where we discuss reactions to Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed School Aid budget, term limits, his thoughts on whether we should continue to cut taxes and more!

We sit down with Michigan Teacher of the Year, Luke Wilcox, in this episode of MI SoundBoard. How is education like craft beer? What does the title Teacher of the Year mean? Luke and host Don Wotruba dive in...enjoy and listen!

In this episode, we sit down with Tyler Sawher, Senior Strategy Advisor for Education & Career Connections for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. We dive right in with one of the hottest legislative topic for Michigan schools: concealed carry bills that would allow guns in schools.

Our conversation with Michigan Future Inc. President Lou Glazer continues. Among the topics in this episode, we discuss where people who are graduating college want to live and what statewide factors influence those choices. This and more!

Michigan Future Inc. President Lou Glazer joins us to discuss the think tank and its work and research around what makes Michigan a leader or laggard when it comes to education and steps needed to improve the overall success of Michigan. Spoiler: Michigan can do better.

We sit down with Michigan Democratic State Board of Education Co-President Casandra Ulbrich to talk through the dynamic of a split party State Board of Education, governance within their board as well as public school boards of education and other hot topics.

The National School Board Association President and Georgia School Board Association Executive Director join us at our Annual Conference to discuss board governance and what needs to be done to shift perception of school boards and encourage more interest in school board service.