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It was February 2006, almost exactly 10 years ago, when then-governor Jennifer Granholm used her weekly radio address to urge state lawmakers to pass a new set of rigorous high school curriculum requirements.
"We have to increase the skill level of our students," Granholm said. "We have to increase our efforts to give our children, who are our future workforce, the math and science education they need to succeed in the 21st century."
The Legislature acted, and the next school year, the Michigan Merit Curriculum went into effect.
Now, nearly 10 years later, we may finally have an answer on whether it worked.