Nesbitt: Whitmer’s tenure ends with too few kids reading

Nesbitt: Whitmer's tenure ends with too few kids reading

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Nesbitt: Whitmer's tenure ends with too few kids reading

This year will be term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s final one, and I don’t expect history to be kind when looking back on her tenure. She will leave behind broken promises, appalling scandals and failed policies. It’s more difficult for hardworking families to make it in Michigan than when she first took office.
If the Granholm administration is remembered as Michigan’s “Lost Decade,” Whitmer’s reign is sure to go down as a “Decade of Disaster.” Our economy is among the worst in the nation, our roads are still terrible, and our kids are learning DEI instead of their ABCs.
Michigan ranks among the bottom 10 states in almost every meaningful metric, and the damage caused to our children’s education will take years to overcome.
The numbers are hard to fathom for a state that was once a national model for public education.
A vast majority of students — 63% of fourth graders and 76% of eighth graders — are not proficient in math, and nearly 30% of students are chronically absent.
But the most troubling downward spiral under Whitmer’s watch is Michigan’s reading scores. Reading is the foundation for educational success, yet three out of every five third- and fourth-graders in our state cannot read proficiently.
Studies confirm that two out of every three students who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade are likely to end up in jail or on social welfare. This paints a very bleak picture for Michigan’s future.
Now, years after locking students out of Michigan schools, Whitmer has said she wants to tackle this crisis. But time will tell whether this is more meaningless lip service from a governor who has a bad habit of saying the right thing and doing the wrong thing.
Students in states like Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama are lapping our own because their governors and legislatures embraced accountability for teachers and students and transparency throughout their education systems.
Meanwhile, Whitmer has spent the last seven years dismantling these kinds of measures.
She gutted Michigan’s “Read by Grade Three” law — the same law Mississippi credits with improving its reading scores from near the bottom nationally to the top 10 — and rolled back requirements that student progress be the key metric for teacher evaluations.
She vetoed funding for reading scholarships that would have assisted parents — especially low-income families — with tutoring or other reading support, and she ended the simple, transparent A-F grading scale that allowed parents to understand how their child’s school was performing and compare it to others.
Senate Republicans and I are ready to take charge. We have already introduced legislation to restore Michigan’s “Read by Grade Three” law, along with other measures to undo the damage Whitmer and Lansing Democrats have caused.
Growing up on my small family farm and attending Hillsdale College, I learned to appreciate conservative values and the beauty of the American Dream — the freedom to work hard, make an honest living, own your home and raise your family.
Michigan students deserve a fair shot at the American Dream, and we know that being able to read by the fourth grade sets them up for success.
It starts in our elementary schools, where we need to get back to teaching basics — reading, writing and math — and support teachers who are trained to make it happen with proven methods like phonics. If kids are struggling to read, they deserve opportunities for tutoring and support.
At the foundation of it all is trusting parents. Michigan must join President Donald Trump’s school choice program and affirm that families are not obligated to co-parent with the government.
Let’s get to work, restore accountability in our schools, replace wokeness with real learning, and put parents back in charge. I will not stop fighting to give our kids a fair shot at the American Dream and the opportunity to read, grow up and make it in Michigan.
State Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, serves as the Senate Republican Leader and represents Michigan’s 20th Senate District.