On a day when Americans across the nation are giving thanks, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has some policies for which they are grateful.

Michigan’s people are working.

The state unemployment rate was 14.6 percent in June 2009. In October of this year, the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.9 percent. There’s nearly a half million more Michigan residents (468,311) working today than in 2009.

No Michigan workers are compelled to financially support political views they oppose.

In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public sector employees in this country cannot be forced to pay fees to unions as a condition of employment. The landmark decision was known as Janus vs. AFSCME.

That was good news for public school teachers who don’t agree with the far-left agenda of the unions they were forced to support through compulsory monthly payments known as “agency fees.”

In October 2010, the Michigan Education Association’s Voice magazine stated that 45 percent of teachers under the age of 30 in the National Education Association classified themselves as conservative, as did 63 percent of teachers between 40 to 49.

Yet, unions like the MEA and the NEA have a long history of supporting leftist politics.

For example, Doug Pratt, the MEA’s director of public affairs, serves on the board of the far-left organization Progress Michigan. The National Education Association is also polarizing school employees by promoting-far left ideology and positions unrelated to public education. This year, for example, it gave an award to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose national anthem protests further divided an already polarized nation .

Driver responsibility fees ended.

In 2003, in an attempt to generate more money, the legislators passed a “driver responsibility fee” law.

Drivers in Michigan could be forced to pay up to $2,000 in extra fees for multiple or serious traffic violations. Lawmakers were told the levy would generate $65 million a year, but it never did, because individuals on the economic margins of the state couldn’t afford to pay. In testimony on a repeal bill, a Detroit official told a House committee that 76,000 city residents owed more than $124 million (at about $1,629 per resident), most of which would never be collected.

In February, legislation was enacted the repealed the fees and forgave all unpaid fees still owed.

Parents can get their children a better education.

Parents have a choice to get their children a better education. In Detroit, the traditional public schools have failed. The Detroit Public Schools Community District had 69 elementary and middle schools evaluated under the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s latest report card. A large majority — 55 of the 69 schools, or 80 percent — were given an F grade based on data from 2014 to 2016. The Mackinac Center factors in the socioeconomic background of students into its evaluations so a school’s grade is not just a measure of community affluence or poverty.

The data shows many parents in Detroit are taking advantage of their option to choose a school for their children. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, there were more students in charter schools in Detroit last year than in the conventional school district. Detroit had 50,460 students attend charter schools and 44,890 attend the local school district in 2017.

While many politicians and public school administrators have complained about charter schools, the latest research from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes suggests that those charter school students are getting a better education than their peers at the conventional district in Detroit.

Underfunding of the largest state pension system has ended.

The Legislature made some changes to prop up the state’s massively underfunded school employee retirement system in 2010 and 2012. But those were measures that fell far short of what was needed. The failure to fix the problem has harmed school budgets.

For example, payments from the Livonia Public Schools to the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System increased from $11.0 million in 2010 to $24.7 million in 2017. The $13.7 million increase would be have been enough to pay the salaries of 178 teachers within the district.

Much more comprehensive reforms became law in July of 2017. The reforms gave new employees a defined contribution 401(k) account with substantial employer contributions, or a defined-benefit plan in which enrollees are responsible for making up any future underfunding. The reforms will limit the unfunded liability of $29.1 billion and gradually reduce it.

The Michigan Department of Education has raised questions about a city of Detroit plan to provide preschool to 4-year-olds. The concerns, outlined in a document from Lisa Brewer-Walraven, director of the department’s Child Development Division, review the city’s application to the state for federal funds.

The memo, which was prepared for the State Budget Office and labeled “for discussion purposes,” says that some groups of families targeted for assistance may not qualify under federal income standards. It also asks whether Detroit has made the case that the program is needed and whether the city has the necessary facilities.

According to the memo, Detroit’s proposal did not take into account the eligibility requirements of a federal Child Care and Development Block Grant that the city wants to use to pay for 1,000 additional preschool slots. The state would administer the grant.

Even with expanded funding, the memo suggests, some needs could go unaddressed. “Without a statewide assessment on where the need is the greatest ... the children most in need of the child care support would be placed on a waiting list.”

The memo also questions the need for expanded preschool in the city. “Detroit has not presented a clear case for 4-year-old need,” it reads.

The memo also raises concerns about a possible lack of facilities: “Anecdotal reports from various entities in Detroit indicate that there is a shortage of facility space that is adequate and meets licensing standards.”

Eli Savit, a senior advisor to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, said that the questions had been communicated to city officials, who have since responded to the department’s concerns.

“We know there is a need for early childhood education in Detroit, and we are confident there is more than enough capacity to fill that need,” Savit said in a written statement.

Currently, 1,455 children in Detroit are enrolled in federally funded Head Start preschool programs. Another 4,248 children are enrolled in a state preschool program called Great Start Readiness, according to the Michigan Department of Education and the Wayne RESA, an intermediate school district.

Detroit’s plans to provide government-funded preschool to all or most 4-year-olds in the city comes as some in Lansing are looking at legislation to expand the Great Start Readiness Program and extend government-funded preschool to every 4-year-old in Michigan.

About 47 percent of Michigan’s 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds are enrolled in some sort of preschool program, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy.