BY RICK PLUTA
Michigan Public Radio Network
A controversial project to find ways to reduce the costs of public schools will continue, but it will be carried out in public and under the direction of the state's superintendent of schools.
The so-called "skunk works" group met in secret and included members of Governor Snyder's administration. It was reportedly trying to develop a string of low-cost charter schools funded by a voucher-like system. It caused a furor in teachers unions and education groups when its existence was revealed by The Detroit News.
Now the governor has asked state superintendent Mike Flanagan to take over the project, an to focus on using technology to make schools less costly and more efficient.
"How can we continue that process to say, are there new, better ways to do that? I think that's always a worthwhile topic."
Mike Flanagan tells the Gongwer News Service his group will work in the open, and anything like school vouchers won't be part its mission.
Copyright 2013, MPRN