Detroit Achievement Academy wins $500K Yass Prize as finalist
Competition rewards transformational changes in education
A Detroit charter school won $500,000 in a national competition designed to reward transformational changes in education.
The Detroit Achievement Academy was one of 33 semifinalists for the Yass Prize, as previously reported by CapCon.
Organizers of the prize announced Dec. 14 that the academy was one of nine finalists, receiving a $500,000 prize.
“We know giving education innovators the opportunity to work outside the system that is suffocating so many of them is the most effective way to transform the lives of America’s students,” Janine Yass said in a statement announcing the award.
Kyle Smitley, CEO of Detroit Achievement Academy, described the cash prize and the recognition as a “bright new beginning” for the academy and for Detroit Prep, which was also under consideration for the prize.
Smitley is the founder of both schools. Together, they serve about 800 students.
“I am constantly communicating with my fellow finalists and with alumni from past years, and it feels like our win was by no means the end of something, or the sort of capstone that I thought it would be, but rather just a really bright new beginning to a really exciting next chapter for our two special schools,” Smitley said.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
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Whitmer ignores taxpayer in school lunch pitch
State of the State speech gives credit to politicians, not the public, for funding 2.8 million school lunches daily
There is no such thing as a free school lunch. Every single one is taxpayer-funded.
But Michigan media and top politicians appear to think that taxpayer-funded lunches are a gift from the government.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pushed to continue Michigan’s universal school lunch program in her sixth State of the State address Wednesday, extending the costly program beyond the one year it was budgeted for.
The program cost $160 million for the 2023-24 school year. The closest Whitmer came to crediting anyone for paying that bill was when she mentioned two lawmakers who led the push.
“All 1.4 million public school students get two meals a day so they can focus on learning, and parents save $850 a year on groceries, per child,” Whitmer said. “I want to thank Sen. Darrin Camilleri and Rep. Regina Weiss who led this effort. When I introduce my next budget, we’re going to keep feeding students and lowering grocery bills.”
Read it for yourself: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2024 State of the State address
The 2024 effort will be led by Rep. Jaime Churches, D-Wyandotte, and Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia.
Churches admitted recently that universal free lunch owes to taxpayers, not politicians.
Whitmer’s speech indicates that Official Lansing won’t follow suit. Politicians demand all the credit.
When they take it, CapCon will be there to remind ten million Michiganders of reality. There is no such thing as government money. We the people pay for every free lunch served by politicians.
James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.