Do you care about education in Novi?

Join Novi Patch, Northville Patch and the Center for Michigan for a 90-minute education forum at the Novi Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27.

Parents and interested residents are welcome to attend and share their opinions. Please register by filling out the form at the top of this article.

We can take the first 50 people and will send you an RSVP confirmation before the event.

About the education forum

Patch has partnered with The Center for Michigan, a think-tank focusing on helping citizens drive important changes in the state, to lead conversations on education throughout Michigan. 

During these sessions, topics will range from teacher preparation to class sizes, and participants will have opportunities to offer their opinions. The forums are run like town hall meetings, and participants have the option to vote on questions.

"Our pledge is that you will learn something and that your voice will be heard," said CEO John Bebow, himself the father of an elementary student who attends a public school. "This isn't me sitting in my pajamas coming up with ideas. This is all about the people."

The focus is on the customers of the school industry: students, parents and employers — "people who have been left out of the conversation," said center founder Phil Power, former owner of HomeTown Communications Network Inc.

The goal is to involve 5,000 citizens in about 200 forums from northern Michigan to downriver and in every Patch community. The center will release a report that will be given to every legislator in office at the beginning of 2013.