OPINION: Betsy DeVos: With veto, Whitmer puts politics over children’s success – By Betsy DeVos (Detroit News) / July 24 2021
Strong reading skills are essential for students to learn and succeed. Literacy literally unlocks a lifetime of learning.
So it’s indefensible that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently line-item vetoed a new investment in Michigan’s young readers that was sure to help improve their skills.
The plan was simple: Michigan families could receive $1,000 reading scholarships to help less than proficient readers in grades K-5 hire a tutor or attend a summer learning program. It passed the Michigan House and Senate with nearly unanimous support.
The program was fully paid for with federal COVID relief funds appropriated by Congress, designed for exactly this purpose: helping mitigate the significant COVID-related learning loss. And make no mistake, that learning loss was exacerbated here by how long the governor appeased the teachers’ union bosses and kept schools closed.
