Michigan's Weak Economy Becomes Campaign Issue

The Detriot News reports:

Cassie Prior fears her husband will lose his job as an industrial electrician, because, as factories close down in Michigan, there's less work for him.

The 27-year-old Lincoln Park mother of two small children also is losing friends, who are leaving the state to find work in other states. She's reluctantly thinking her young family may have to follow them. They've already looked at Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Delaware.

"A lot of my friends are educated teachers, but are working at Home Depot or in a bar to help support their families because they can't find a teaching job," said Prior, who has a degree in psychology but is staying home with her 16-month-old daughter Daphne and 4-month-old son Parker.

Prior's story is replayed daily across Michigan, the state with the second highest unemployment in the nation, the only state to lose jobs the last three years and the home of an industry that is losing market share at a frightening pace.

If there's an oversupply of teachers,in Michigan, does it makes sense to subsidize more people to go to college to become teachers? The struggles of Blue America.