Whitmer Slashes Funding for Public School Teachers, Students Learning Online
Governor Eviscerates Funding for Online Public School Learners during Pandemic, after Locking School Buildings, Forcing Students Online
LANSING – Great Lakes Education Project Executive Director Beth DeShone provided the following comment today, after the presentation of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s budget, and the astounding revelation that Whitmer plans to dramatically cut funding for students attending online public schools during a pandemic, while many public schools still refuse to open their doors for in-person learning:
“Governor Whitmer’s move to slash funding for public school teachers and students who attend public school online is a broadside attack on public education and on families in the middle of a global pandemic.
“Whitmer forced students to attend classes online when she ignored the CDC, ignored pediatricians, ignored the science and locked kids out of school buildings across the state. Many of those schools still haven’t re-opened. Michigan students rely on online public schools now more than ever.
“That Whitmer would slash the budgets that pay Michigan teachers’ salaries, provide computers for kids, and online classrooms that so many students rely on daily is both astounding and reprehensible.
“Michigan kids and their families deserve the Governor’s support, not a budget cut. The public school teachers Whitmer attacked today deserve that support, too.”
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