State of Opportunity from Michigan Radio

The idea for today’s State of Opportunity story comes from you. After we ran a piece about how special ed placements vary from district to district, several of you got in touch and asked: How do schools pay for special ed? I went to Elliott Elementary in Holt to get some answers. The first thing you notice about the special ed room at Elliott Elementary is the student teacher ratio: four students, four adults. All the students in this room have Autism Spectrum Disorder, a developmental

Most kids will head back to school this week ready to learn. But some will have to spend a good chunk of time re-learning things they forgot over the summer. The dreaded “ summer slide ” has been linked to persistent achievement gaps between kids from lower-income families and their better-off peers.

As kids head back to school, it’s worth remembering that all kids have the right to a free education. But as we've pointed out time and again , free doesn’t necessarily mean equal. Where you live can have a big impact on the quality of education you receive, especially if you have a child with special needs. Lisa Kocab has five sons ranging in age from kindergarten to college, so she's no stranger to the back-to-school routine. But this school year she's nervous. "I am very non-confrontational

No doubt you’ve heard by now about Pokemon Go!. It was all the rage this summer. But we did manage to find a group of kids who put down their smartphones and picked up something much more old school. Seven weeks ago, Kennedy Craig had never held a violin in her hands, let alone play one. But here she was, seven weeks later, plucking out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on a pint-sized violin. She likes the instrument so much she wants "to get one for Christmas!" Around the corner in another