Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order on July 11, creating a statewide department that will assist with educational resources to ensure that K-12 students are on a path to “tuition-free” college.
In a state that already has an education department, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) will share Whitmer’s goals of universal and state-funded pre-K over four years, as well as tuition-free college.
“I’m establishing MiLEAP today because we need to get every kid started early, in pre-K, so they succeed in kindergarten, have paths after graduation to get higher education tuition-free, and forge strong partnerships with our employers so they can get a good-paying, high-skill, and in-demand job,” Whitmer said.
MiLEAP’s stated goals include accelerating progress toward the state’s “Sixty by 30 goal” (of increasing the number of “working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 50.5% today to 60% by 2030”) so that everyone in the state can “earn a skill certificate or degree after high school, tuition-free.”
Effective Dec. 1, MiLEAP “will ensure all available resources, data, and funds are aligned around a single vision—building an education system that can support the economy of the future and help anyone make it in Michigan.”
Jakob Loutzenhiser, a senior at Ferris State University and president of FSU College Republicans, said he is concerned about how Whitmer’s education goals will be funded.
“I really like the idea of having [parents] send their kid to pre-K for free, but my concern comes from where this money is coming from and how much it will cost the people of Michigan,” Loutzenhiser said. “It seems like there isn’t a ton of knowledge of what the price tag is.”
Similarly, Republican House Leader Matt Hall criticized MiLEAP as worsening a flawed educational system.
“Connecting students throughout their education makes sense in theory, but it won’t do much to actually help our next generation,” he tweeted. “Expanding a broken system without fixing it and improving accountability is an empty promise and not a solution.”
MiLeap comes as the state will invest a record amount into its K-12 schools.
Michigan’s 2023-2024 budget features $24.3 billion toward education, including the state’s largest per-pupil spending of $9,608 per student, the Michigan Education Association reported.
Michigan is not the only state looking to fill in-demand jobs.
Campus Reform recently covered a report from thinktank Texas 2036 that found “fewer than 30% of Texans earn a postsecondary credential within six years of graduating from high school,” despite 70% of Texas jobs being expected to require education or training after high school by 2036.
Both Texas and Michigan share Whitmer’s goal of increasing the number of adults with a skill certificate or a college degree from 50.5 percent to 60 percent by 2030.
Campus Reform contacted Governor Whitmer for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
