Education is more than job training. We agree to educate all our children so that they may become productive citizens who maintain our grand experiment in government of, by, and for the people. Recent events threaten to turn us away from this work:
Our nation is founded on the principle that we are to be governed by laws and not the changing whims of a particular leader. All that we at MIPFS work for — a quality education for all children — depends on the rule of law and a commitment to see that the laws are faithfully executed. The current efforts of our national government to suborn the law must end.
Our people will not long remain free if we are never taught the whole of our own history. Current efforts to sanitize that history by fiat impoverish our children and threaten our democracy.
Our future is at risk if we turn our backs on the effort to make real the promise of our nation’s founding. The cruel and sneering effort to suppress discussions of diversity, of equity, and of inclusion mocks our ideals and stunts the education of our children. Cynically doing so in the name of fighting discrimination is an affront to everything for which our nation stands.
Education policy in Michigan has undergone a major shift over the past two years. Much of the credit for that must be given to the state’s voters, who in November 2020 approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent, non-partisan, redistricting commission. Newly drawn legislative districts changed the look of Michigan government as Democratic lawmakers narrowly took control of both houses for the first time since 1981. That alone has brought important changes to Michigan’s public schools.
We had hoped that the redrawn legislative districts would encourage moderation and compromise on education spending and policy issues. Evidently, we will need to keep waiting. So far, this year’s budget process consists of more posturing than governing, and there is no question that the costs of division and gamesmanship will continue to mount. In one of their first acts upon retaking control of the state House of Representatives, Republican leaders revealed their intended governing style: confrontation.
We had hoped that the redrawn legislative districts would encourage moderation and compromise on education spending and policy issues. Evidently, we will need to keep waiting. So far, this year’s budget process consists of more posturing than governing, and there is no question that the costs of division and gamesmanship will continue to mount. In one of their first acts upon retaking control of the state House of Representatives, Republican leaders revealed their intended governing style: confrontation.