The coronavirus did not discriminate based on the kind of schools Michigan kids attend, and neither did the Governor’s executive order shuttering every school building in the state.
That’s why the Great Lakes Education Project so strongly opposes a lawsuit announced days ago by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and State Superintendent Michael Rice designed to discriminate against and withhold emergency federal funding from Michigan students based on where they attend school.
Their push to discriminate against and strip emergency funding from kids in the midst of a global pandemic, based solely on the schools their parents and families have chosen, is just their latest shocking attack on Michigan’s kids.
Rice and some stakeholders are also pushing to excuse schools from critical quality measurements needed to ensure they’re delivering for students, and have refused to put forward any meaningful plan to get kids back in the classroom this fall –despite the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and the Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics that keeping kids out of school this fall is more dangerous than opening school doors.
They’ve locked kids out of the classroom.
They’ve ignored the science and the data and the expert guidance of infectious disease experts and pediatricians.
They’ve fought to exclude schools from performance evaluations.
Now they’re suing the federal government to block emergency funding from helping kids learn.
Our kids deserve better. We’ll never stop fighting to deliver.
Beth DeShone
Executive Director, Great Lakes Education Project
“It’s a guiding principle that the secretary realizes the final decisions will be made locally,” says DeShone. “For GLEP giving every child an opportunity for five days in the classroom is the goal but there could be underlying health and safety concerns.”
“The coronavirus did not discriminate based on the kind of schools Michigan kids attend, and neither did the governor’s executive order shuttering every school building in the state,” said executive director Beth DeShone. She accused Michigan leaders of attempting “to discriminate against and strip emergency funding from kids in the midst of a global pandemic, based simply on the schools their parents have chosen.”
Beth DeShone, executive director of the Great Lakes Education Project, a charter school advocacy group… said: “Meeting the needs of Michigan’s students in the coming school year starts with understanding what those needs are, and what gaps have been created during the COVID health crisis.
“Instead of fighting to get students up to speed, Superintendent Rice and Board President Ulbrich are asking the federal government to waive these critical assessments, a disastrous move that would force more kids even further behind.”
According to the CDC, to pediatricians, and to study after study, students are at dramatically lower risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. That’s why the experts – backed by volumes of cutting-edge science and data – have concluded unequivocally that it’s time to send kids back to class this fall.
More than that, they’re making the case that failing to open school doors increases risks that outweigh those of the novel coronavirus.
The question parents are left asking the Governor is whether or not she’ll follow the science, the data, the doctors and the experts. Our kids’ academic futures may depend on the answer.
Those futures are also at risk from new efforts by Superintendent Rice and the Board of Education to eliminate in-school performance measures.
Meeting the needs of Michigan’s students in the coming school year starts with understanding what those needs are, and what gaps have been created during the COVID health crisis. Instead of fighting to get students up to speed, Superintendent Rice and the state Board of Education are asking the federal government to waive critical assessments, a disastrous move that would force more kids even further behind.
GLEP strongly opposes the Board’s attempt to undermine students’ education by skipping the critical assessments and accountability measures that provide teachers and parents with the insight needed to deliver results in the classroom.
Are you ready to join the fight for changes in Lansing that put Michigan students first – not the education bureaucracy?
Are you ready to join the fight to get school doors re-opened, so parents have options this fall?
We invite you to join us. Your contribution of $5, $10, or even $50 could make a real difference at the polls this November. Giving is easy. Just click here.
