Michigan's schools are in trouble. Although many parents believe their school and their teacher is fine, compared to the rest of the nation the state ranks very poorly.

It wasn't always this way. Over the years, other states like Tennessee and Florida have surpassed Michigan. Fighting between factions has locked progress in Michigan's schools in place.

The status quo - for instance, Michigan is one of only five states in which reading skills declined between 2003 and 2015 - isn't going to cut it when it comes to attracting businesses and outside talent.

But there are possibilities. Our guest on this episode is Ron French, Senior Reporter at Bridge Magazine. He recently penned a piece where he went through 12 different reports and shared a bunch of things he learned from them that he shared on their website here. There are common threads.

As so often, Michigan's problems aren't unique. We just need to take action on it. 

He joins Sven Gustafson to talk about the state of education. It's a very informative conversation that should sober you, but leave you with a sense that something can be done.. if we're willing to find common ground.