Why I'm Running

In order to be able to build anything, we first must have a vision. I believe that if we want to make Michigan’s economy globally competitive, attracting employers and people to our communities and growing our population, then we need to have globally-competitive schools. 

 

To make Michigan schools the best in the nation and among the best in the world, we need to guarantee every young person has access to at least the following: ​

• High quality College and Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways that allow them to pursue at least two years of credit-bearing college and trades courses while in high school,

• Universal access to quality early childhood education (childcare and Pre-kindergarten),

• Universal access to before and after school programs, and

• Universal access to high quality tutoring programs to help anyone struggling catch up.

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If every Michigan student had these things, the following would be true

• Michigan schools would be the #1 performing schools in America, and

• Our graduates would be among the most knowledgeable and capable high school graduates anywhere in the world, and

• They would have completed about half of their college undergraduate coursework or trades apprenticeship by the time they are 18 at zero personal expense to them, and

• Their ability to earn a good salary, and thus purchase a home and other amenities that may enhance their life, and contribute to our state’s economy, would begin 2 years earlier and for a much larger portion of our state’s high school graduates than it currently does.

 

There is no reason why we can’t guarantee these things for all of our young Michiganders, and I believe we have an obligation to. Countries we compete with around the world are doing it, and I know our students can exceed the abilities of students there. But in order to make this happen, we need to improve the equity and effectiveness across our system and structure, as well as how we invest funding.