The bottom line is we need to reeducate politicians in Lansing about the value of education.
Like babies learning their first suckle, these so-called lawmakers are fidgeting about embracing the idea of the Michigan Promise Scholarship that holds the promise of empowering young people in the state through college scholarships.
So in the budget rush they gutted the Michigan Promise that at first was going to secure the educational future of 96,000 students in the state. Three thousand of those students attend Wayne State University, right in our backyard.
How many times has it been emphasized that education is the best legacy any community or nation can bequeath on its people?
To buttress this fact, show me an educated nation, and I will show you a community that is thriving on all levels because its people have a consciousness.
Despite the downturn of the economy and its biting effects in the state, the promise of real transformation came with the arrival of the Michigan Promise created by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
But now that good educational news is being greeted with Lansing lawmakers double-talking, and like Squealer in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” they are engaging in propaganda, misinformation and outright lies with the aid of the tea party protesters.
“Blame it all on Granholm” they want you to believe and none on those who are also elected to represent their constituents in dire need of educational support.
They brag about defending what Michiganders want, including young people, but will eliminate resources that will put meaning to their claims.
Let’s face it.
The Republicans can dislike Gov. Granholm’s approach to critical issues in the state, and perhaps not utilizing the bully pulpit to the extent we’d prefer, but don’t make students pay for it or become the victims of the vitriolic attack on the Granholm administration.
So on the morning of Nov. 23, Wayne State University students took to the streets to send a message to lawmakers who are pretending not to hear.
The students made it clear that Lansing can add more money to the prison system, paying as much as $30,000 to incarcerate each inmate while students of public universities are only receiving $5,700 each.
About Post Author
