Last evening in Lansing, MDP kicked off a series of press events highlighting Tudor Dixon’s disastrous education plans to be held during Back to School week. State Representative Julie Brixie and current and retired educators gathered on the Michigan Capitol steps to discuss the dangerous impacts of Dixon’s wrong-for-Michigan agenda on public education.
Read excerpts below highlighting how DeVos sellout Dixon plans to gut public education as we know it – harming not only students, but parents and educators as well.
State Representative Julie Brixie (HD-69):
“I’m a state representative here in the greater Lansing region, but I’m also the daughter of a teacher, so education is really important to me. I’m really proud and feeling energized to be standing here today with parents and teachers from my community who are fierce advocates for the strong public school systems Lansing relies on.
“[…] It’s not hyperbole to say Tudor Dixon’s candidacy for Governor is a danger to our students and to our teachers. She is championing the Devos plan to completely privatize education and strip education funding from public schools. If implemented, it could divert $500 million of your tax dollars away from public schools every year and instead funnel that money into private institutions that are allowed to discriminate.
“[…] Dixon has said she would literally rewrite Michigan’s constitution for this to work, and you’d better believe she would go that far considering all the money the Devoses are pouring into her campaign just to keep her afloat—-she’ll do anything for them. Someone with such a dangerous agenda has no business in the Governor’s seat and no business handling our children’s futures.”
Retired Lansing educator and former president of Lansing Teacher Association Jerry Swartz:
“The last four years under Governor Gretchen Whitmer, we’ve seen the return of funding that had been cut out under the Snyder dynasty of eight years. […] That brings programs, that brings opportunities for our children, not just in Lansing, but across the state. And it’s the closing of a gap that both parties have been striving to do for the last 25 years.
“[…] The per-pupil funding is the highest it’s ever been…so it’s exciting times. There are definitely differences in the education agendas between Governor Whitmer and [Tudor Dixon].
[…] Maintaining public dollars for public education. Huge issue of difference. Tudor Dixon’s position is, she wants to take off from the public fund to provide vouchers for the private sector. Enormous difference. That’s been tested before in our state, 67% of Michigan voted [against] that 20 years ago.”
Lansing educator Zondra Sickles Blake:
“Tudor Dixon is wrong for families, for students, for women, and for education. She’s backed financially by the DeVos family, who are haters of public education. […] Tudor Dixon supports every measure to decimate public education, which is the foundation of education in the United States. Her education plan for Michigan is to cut $3.5 billion dollars from our public schools. This would dismantle public education, hurting our Michigan teachers, our Michigan students, and our Michigan families. […] Our students are the future of our workforce. They deserve better.
“Gretchen Whitmer has done better. For four years in a row, she’s invested in preschool through 12 education. This year alone, she’s invested $9,150 per pupil to allow districts to make decisions based on what’s best for the students and their schools, to reduce class sizes.”
Lansing educator Barb Houghtaling:
“Tudor Dixon is just wrong for Michigan. She’s wrong for the students and the parents. She wants to get rid of public education…and privatize it. […] The voucher system does not work. […] Governor Whitmer is providing the most per-pupil funding that we’ve had.”
