LANSING — State Representative Marcia Hovey-Wright (D-Muskegon) hosted an education town hall Monday night that brought together teachers, parents, elected officials and citizens to discuss the problems facing Michigan’s schools and to discuss promising proposals to address those issues. The town hall followed the release of the Michigan House Democrats’ School Reform Task Force report in September.
“Our schools have faced enormous challenges in recent years, including the cutting of $2 billion in School Aid Fund spending, the rapid expansion of charter schools and the introduction of cyber schools,” Hovey-Wright said. “On top of that, our state has taken a heavy-handed approach when dealing with financially strapped districts, as it did when it brought in a for-profit charter company to take over the Muskegon Heights district. Parents and citizens deserve to know what’s happened to our schools, and what we can do to make Michigan schools a source of pride once again.”
Special guest Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) joined Hovey-Wright at the event, which gave parents, teachers and citizens a chance to speak up about changes to Michigan’s school system after years of policies enacted by a Republican-led Legislature and governor who rarely took their needs into consideration.
“There’s little question that schools across Michigan are struggling due to the policies being passed by out of touch politicians in Lansing,” Whitmer said. “I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet with parents, students and teachers in Muskegon to hear their thoughts about how we can get our schools back on track and our students ready to compete for the jobs of tomorrow.”