Opinion: Whitmer just created her greatest accomplishment ... or worst nightmare

Last month, Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment eliminating the Michigan State Board of Education.

Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (a Democrat) did Bollin about a thousand better with a daring tactic: creating a new Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential.

Whitmer’s gambit accomplishes what many governors have wanted for decades — effective oversight on education — and dramatically aligns Michigan’s educational system with its economic development efforts.

The new department will work toward "improving outcomes from preschool through postsecondary," read a Wednesday announcement scant on details about how that might be accomplished. Governors don't govern the state education department. It's controlled by an elected state board and a state superintendent hired by that board, a source of frustration for governors of both parties. The new department will partner with, not replace, the state Board and Department of Education, Whitmer's office said.

This year we mark the 40th anniversary of “A Nation At Risk," the blockbuster report that slapped America hard across the national face, warning we could lose our worldwide scientific, economic and moral leadership because our education system was collapsing.

It ain’t gotten better, folks. Frequently, Michigan corporate executives say their biggest long-term worry is not taxes or regulation, but quality of the state's educational systems.

Education has also become a political ping-pong ball. No education question has escaped a good political whack across the net.

Former Gov. John Engler jumped on the concept of, and heavily backed, something called charter schools. He and others argued that charters would improve education by providing competition for public schools. But mostly, Engler didn’t like teacher unions, which wouldn’t be dominant in charter schools.

Conservative politicians supported home schooling, which critics warned could degrade education. There were fights against “values education” and “outcomes-based education.”

The fight has moved to transgender issues, whether things like slavery and Jim Crow laws can be taught, and banning books in schools. Last month, the state Board of Education passed a resolution on a partisan split essentially opposing book bans. The conservative activist group Moms for Liberty opposed it. Some of the state's most prestigious districts are caught up in fights over political questions — look at the mess in Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

While all this has been going on, Michigan’s educational performance, once among the nation’s best, has been sinking. In 2018 a report issued under then-Gov. Rick Snyder warned Michigan’s educational outcomes were dropping among all races and income classes. No longer were the poor alone suffering from poor education.

A new study says the quality of education in Michigan has fallen to 27th in the nation. COVID-19 related performance issues didn’t help, but we were dropping for a long while before COVID began, and our leaders have not done much to tackle the most important question: How do we get kids actually learning again? How do we make Michigan a destination for educational development, build our economy and improve our overall lives?

Whitmer’s tactic could, possibly, move education to a new dynamic, one focused on accomplishment. Whitmer's move could shift school policy more directly and quickly while focusing it more intently. It may give schools and teachers more flexibility to actually teach, and inspire kids to actually learn.

Possibly.

What happens with the still-existing Department of Education? Will the Republicans who backed Bollin’s proposal fight Whitmer’s? Does this actually open schools to more political wrangling, or protests, or parental resistance? How will funding issues be resolved? And could all Whitmer’s efforts be overturned when conservative government inevitably returns to power in Lansing? Are these questions Whitmer considered? If so, does she care about those worries, or is she focusing instead on the chance of great reward?

Does Whitmer know with this move she is potentially creating her biggest accomplishment, or her worst nightmare?

John Lindstrom has covered Michigan politics for 50 years. He retired as publisher of Gongwer, a Lansing news service, in 2019. Contact the Detroit Free Press opinion page at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Whitmer creates new Michigan educational reform department