Press Release | Sept. 8, 2025

DETROIT, Mich., Sept. 8, 2025 — State Rep. Tonya Myers Phillips (D-Detroit), a proud alumna of Renaissance High School, condemned Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s unannounced visit to Renaissance today, calling it a “political stunt” that ignores the real harm caused by their proposed cuts to public education. 

The visit was part of the Trump administration’s “Returning Education to the States” tour. Neither Hall nor McMahon informed Detroit state lawmakers of their plans to appear at the high school. The visit comes as Republicans in Lansing and Washington push budget plans that would drain resources from Michigan’s classrooms. Plus, if a final state budget is not completed by Oct. 1 due to Michigan House Republicans’ failure to negotiate in good faith, schools risk being thrown into unprecedented chaos by a government shutdown. 

“Speaker Hall and Secretary McMahon are smiling for cameras here in Detroit while pushing budgets that slash public education funding — including $37 million in cuts to Detroit schools,” Myers Phillips said. “To visit Detroit’s public schools while simultaneously stripping away the resources they need to succeed is dishonest, disingenuous and harmful to the students, families and educators who rely on them. Our students and schools deserve real investments, not this sham of a tour.”  

Hall’s House Republican budget proposal would cut $1.4 billion from Michigan classrooms and divert nearly $2 billion from the School Aid Fund to unrelated spending, according to the Michigan Education Association. At the federal level, McMahon has advanced an agenda that includes billions in cuts to education funding, including a 15% cut to the U.S. Department of Education that would roll back civil rights protections for students with disabilities, English learners and those from lower-income families. 

“Across the state, some school districts are already preparing for layoffs while others are being forced to tap into their savings to simply keep their doors open. Michigan’s children should never be collateral damage in political battles; they deserve leadership that protects their future,” Myers Phillips continued. “Detroit has lived through the harm of chronic underfunding and painful school closures. We will not allow our children to be forced down that path again. They deserve dignity, resources and the full measure of opportunity. If Republicans are sincere about valuing education, they would move beyond the political theater and commit to the real investments that House Democrats have championed to strengthen our schools and safeguard our children’s future.” 

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