James Craig is running a gubernatorial campaign that still “hasn’t moved out of first gear” and features a paper-thin platform that doesn’t address improving infrastructure, strengthening small businesses, or creating good-paying jobs. Despite being a candidate for 8 months, the Detroit Dodger has only managed to give the most detail on his vision for public education – ripping this crucial institution for 1.5 millions students to the studs while simultaneously “lack[ing] specific policy” solutions.
In December, he advocated for cutting funding for underperforming public schools, saying that the public education death spiral that would come from altering Michigan’s constitution to funnel taxpayer resources to private schools would somehow spur school districts to improve, arguing that when “you incentivize progress, magical things begin to happen.”
Craig gave a blanket endorsement for transforming Michigan’s public education system with a DeVos style voucher program, describing his support for a system that would increase educational inequality as “absolute.”
Meanwhile, Governor Whitmer recently vetoed “the latest effort by legislative Republicans to create a school voucher system in Michigan” that could have reduced state investment in education by upwards of $500 million annually. Separately, Whitmer also vetoed a $155 million voucher program in July of this year.
Not only is Governor Whitmer protecting public education in Michigan, she’s also exhibiting the strong leadership that it takes to keep our students first. This year, she secured a bipartisan $17.1 billion dollar public education budget that completely closed a decades-long state funding gap between school districts, making it the “largest investment in PreK-12 schools in state history” — all without raising taxes.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“One of the few issue areas that he’s managed to provide any detail for, James Craig is promoting an education agenda that would be detrimental for Michigan students and families. He’s already expressed support for a DeVos style voucher scheme that would defund and dismantle public education, increasing inequality for our students. Now, he’s doubling down by committing to change Michigan’s constitution in order to make it happen. In the meantime, our students and educators can count on Governor Whitmer to keep putting them first.”
