Gov. Whitmer pitches education equity in Suttons Bay
From staff reports
On Thursday, July 20, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer chose Suttons Bay High School as the venue to sign the state’s record-setting new education budget which allocates $24.3 billion for pre-K through 12th grade during the coming school year.
Whitmer, who cruised to a re-election victory last fall and enjoys the support of a Democratic-controlled state House and Senate in Lansing, said the programs funded by the budget will help achieve education equity across Michigan. The new allowance per student will be $9,608 with more funding for students with disabilities, low-income families and English-language learners.
Included in the budget are funds for universal free meals for all students and $9.3 million for the 10 Cents A Meal program—shepherded by Leelanau County resident Diane Conners and the Groundwork Center— which puts produce grown by local farmers in school cafeterias statewide. Whitmer delivered her address and signed the budget in the Doris Walter Café, named after Suttons Bay’s beloved food service director who passed away a year ago.
“We know that potential is universal, but opportunity is not,” Whitmer said. “And when we make investments in the education of our kids, we’re creating opportunity for all.
“This is how we level the playing field. This is how we ensure that every student is prepared to be successful.”
Suttons Bay Superintendent Casey Petz learned a week before the signing that the Governor and her team might visit his school. “Her team said to me, ‘If you say yes, we’re gonna make a lot of work for you’,” Petz chuckled after the signing.
“It’s about priority,” he told the Sun. “If we’re gonna put our money where our mouth is, this is the place to come. Suttons Bay has an incredibly diverse student population. We have a high-needs population. When a Governor and her team make it a point to come to a place like this, what they’re saying is, ‘We see you. We hear you’.”
Whitmer was joined at the lectern in the cafeteria by the region’s new state Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) and House and Senate Education Appropriations chairs, Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) and Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton). House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit), Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Grand Traverse County Commissioner Lauren Flynn also attended. Gilchrist stopped at Mundos for coffee before the event.
“Simply put, this budget is fantastic for Northern Michigan kids,” Coffia said during her remarks. “It supports critical priorities of our local schools, from mental health to teacher attraction and retention.”
“Policy is shaped by the experiences that we bring to the legislature,” added Coffia, a native of Kalkaska. “I grew up here in northern Michigan, in a district that actually ran out of money and had to close months early when I was in high school. And when they reopened, the thing they cut in order to keep the classroom doors open was busing.”
Whitmer said that Suttons Bay—where Native Americans and Hispanics represent a significant portion of the population, and more than half the student body is economically disadvantaged—was the ideal location to sign this budget.
“We have made huge strides when it comes to funding for meals for kids, rural districts, and Native students,” Whitmer told the Sun. “This budget is a great example that when we focus on making sure that all kids can learn, all the teachers and districts get what they need, we’re all gonna be better off for it.”
Whitmer joked that Rep. Coffia sealed the deal when she encouraged the Governor, ‘Will you come up to my district?’
“I mean, who doesn’t want to be in Suttons Bay this time of year anyway?” she asked with a smile.
