Whitmer ties tutoring funds to school districts

After shutting down a tutoring scholarship that would have given funds to families, Whitmer relaunches it, but gives the money to school districts

By Jamie A. Hope | October 13, 2022

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted Oct. 9 that because “our kids come first,” she has tripled the number of literacy coaches in Michigan schools. The coaches will help students “get ahead,” the governor claimed.

Whitmer’s announcement comes after declines of more than 30% in student performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, when school buildings closed and students were offered only remote instruction. The same schools that shut their doors to children are now being rewarded with exclusive funds that Michigan’s legislature originally directed toward parents.

A tutoring scholarship proposal by the Legislature last year, which would have allowed parents to decide where to send their children for tutoring, was vetoed by the governor, who likened the program to school vouchers.

Whitmer also sparred with the legislature over its plan to require that schools receiving federal pandemic emergency funds provide a minimum of 20 hours of in-person instruction.

Michigan public school students suffered poor academic outcomes during the pandemic. English proficiency dropped by 32% and math proficiency declined by 36% between the 2018/19 school year and the 2020/21 school year, according to MI School Data.

Michigan’s children lag far behind their peers in other states. Michigan ranks 38th nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent survey of academic outcomes, just three places above Arkansas and only five ahead of Mississippi.

The governor recommended in Jan. 2021 for schools to return to in-person learning. She did not require the districts to do so.

Detroit Federation of Teachers, a union that endorsed Whitmer for governor, went as far as to threaten an illegal strike if required to return to in-person learning.

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.

Dearborn school board meeting shows value of active citizenship

Parents in Dearborn believe in the future and their ability to decide it

By James David Dickson | October 12, 2022

The public’s voice will be heard.

A Dearborn school board meeting was suspended Monday night after members cited concerns about crowd size, fire safety, and the crowd’s behavior. The meeting will be resumed Thursday in a high school auditorium.

“We can have a spirited debate but we can’t conduct ourselves this way,” said Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin, as quoted in The Detroit News.

The crowd was unruly because of several books in the school library, which critics argue are inappropriate in a school setting. At issue, the Detroit Free Press reports, is seven books:

“Push” by Sapphire
“All Boys Aren't Blue” by George M. Johnson
“And They Lived” by Steven Salvatore
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold
“Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell
“Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston
“This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson

The books have been pulled from shelves and their future in the district is under review. But many irate parents are asking how they got there in the first place, and what’s to keep others from taking their place.

News accounts focused on the tensions of the Monday night meeting, and the most extreme rhetoric. The News reports that “the meeting room was filled with handmade signs such as ‘Stop grooming our kids’ and ‘Keep your dirty books in the closet.’”

These are the details that make stories interesting. Stories about parental rights are hot right now.

But what’s more important is that people showed up, and spoke up. This is what active citizenship looks like. It can be loud, and it can be messy. It beats the default alternative, which is apathy.

The Dearborn school board fled its post on Monday, but will have to show its face eventually. With an election coming next month, Thursday night might be a good time to resume this discussion.

Parents in Dearborn are speaking their voice, and their voices are traveling around the world. They believe in the future and their ability to decide it. Can your community say the same?

James David Dickson is managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org.