Mike's Education Plan
Education is broken in Michigan.
Today, 6 in 10 fourth graders are not reading at grade level. And reading scores for students have been dropping for 25 years–from 19th in the U.S. in 1998 to 44th today.
How did we end up here? One of the biggest reasons is toxic partisan politics. Every time Democrats or Republicans win power in Lansing, they force through controversial and disruptive changes. Standards and curriculum that should be consistent get changed again and again and again.
The result is chaos. Teachers don’t know what to teach, students don’t know what to learn and administrators don’t know what’s coming next.
It’s time to stop playing politics with our children’s future. It's time for a turnaround.
Mike Duggan has a long-term plan to fix education in Michigan. He’ll invest $4.5 billion to transform our schools—without raising taxes—by cutting state spending by 2%.
The four key pillars of Mike’s education strategy:
Create a “Marshall Plan” for Early Reading
If kids can’t read, they won’t succeed. As governor, Mike Duggan will bring together teachers, administrators and parents to launch a new early reading program for Michigan students, built around what we actually know works: student tutoring, summer reading and small group learning. For our teachers, Mike will invest in apprenticeship programs, literacy training and the literacy teacher corps. He’ll also explore expanding access to AI reading support for students and other cutting-edge technologies.
Completely Rebuild High School Career and Technical Education Programs
Over the past few years, Michigan’s career and technical education (CTE) programs have been decimated. Today, 4 in 10 school districts in Michigan are CTE deserts. Mike Duggan knows that college is not the only path to a good-paying job. As governor, he will double funding for CTE programs across the state, giving thousands of Michigan students the chance to pursue a career in the skilled trades. And he’ll double the number of career counselors as well.
Create an Educator-Driven School Grading Plan and Leave it in Place for 5 years
We can’t change the way we grade schools every time Democrats or Republicans win a majority. Schools and students need consistency. Mike Duggan is going to establish a new school grading plan—built in collaboration with educators—and leave it in place for five years. And he’ll make sure that plan applies to all traditional and charter schools.
Establish Real Consequences for Failed School Leadership
If we are going to invest $4.5 billion in our schools, the people of Michigan expect to see results. Mike Duggan will hold schools accountable to make sure our kids are actually improving.
Year 1: If a school is failing, they’ll need to develop a credible and comprehensive improvement plan that explains how they’re going to improve student outcomes.
Year 2: If a school fails a second year in a row, the school principal will be provided a special support team.
Year 3: After the third year, if a school still hasn’t improved, the principal will be fired and someone new will be hired.
Year 4: In the fourth year, the new leadership team is expected to improve.
Year 5: And by year five, if that hasn’t worked, the superintendent will be fired.
A Track Record of Turnaround.
Michigan’s education system is broken and backward. Mike Duggan is the only candidate with the experience to fix it.
Mike Duggan is a proven turnaround guy.
As CEO of Detroit Medical Center, Mike Duggan saved a hospital system that was on the verge of bankruptcy. He transformed seven years of deficit to nine years of profit. And during the Great Recession, under his leadership, DMC was the only hospital system in the region that didn’t lay anyone off.
When Mike Duggan took office as mayor, Detroit was in trouble. Unemployment was 20%. Crime was sky high. Nearly half of the city’s streetlights didn’t work. And the city was bankrupt.
Fast forward to today. The unemployment rate in Detroit has plummeted. Crime is the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years. And for the first time in more than 60 years, the city’s population is actually growing.
Just like he fixed Detroit, Mike Duggan is going to fix our schools by setting aside the “us vs. them” politics, building coalitions, and doing what needs to be done.
This shouldn’t be partisan. Our kids deserve the best education we can give them. We can all agree on that. It’s time for accountability. It’s time for common sense, long-term planning. And it’s time for a leader with the experience and vision to put that plan in place.
It’s time for Mike Duggan, Independent for governor.