Guest Column

A Seat at the Table
By Glenn Maleyko, Ph.D
Superintendent, Dearborn Public Schools

I was excited to get the call asking if I would join several Superintendents from the Tri–County area along with state and local union leaders to participate in a meeting with Governor Whitmer at the Cadillac Building in Detroit. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about her budget plan, ask questions, and get a better understanding of how this budget proposal will support increases for funding public schools. There was an extremely positive vibe and energy that was shared between our colleagues before, during, and after the meeting. Excitement was clearly in the air as this invitation indicated that the lay of the land in Lansing has changed. It  has been many years since we as a Superintendent organization received such a call when the budget was coming out from the Governor’s office or the legislature in Lansing. The previous norm had been to learn about the plan and then to play defense so to speak as we attempted to ensure that we received adequate funding for our students and/or to try and block funding cuts.

Everyone I spoke to at the meeting was impressed by the Governor who used a powerpoint presentation to unveil her plan and to provide an explanation for the implementation of her strategy with the plan.  She indicated that increasing the Gas Tax would fix several areas of the budget and would allow her to “Fix the Damn Roads” but she would do it without raiding “the Damn school aid fund.” Her plan would put a stop to the shell game of moving money from different pots and raid the school aid fund. It is her intent to return budget items that belong in the General Fund such as roads and higher education. By doing this it will allow her to pay for the $500 million increase in education funding for public schools across the state.

We also discussed the inclusion of categorical money like at-risk increases, special education increases, and increases in funding for literacy coaches which was another positive aspect of her budget proposal. The Governor is definitely a friend to public education and our students. Her plan is a bold first step to move in the direction of aligning the funding system to the recommendations from the Finance Collaborative Study.  A recent study put Michigan as dead last in funding growth over the past 15 years and we know that the funding system is broken. I commend Governor Whitmer for her approach and for her willingness to fight for our students.

The bottom line is that we should all be excited by not only the money that she would like to add to public schools across the state but also with the fact that we now have a seat at the table and influence in the Governor’s office. She is an advocate for public education and for our students. We still have work to do but I encourage everyone to support her plan as it will benefit all students in the tri–county area and across the state of Michigan.