Education

I have always believed that our public schools are the basic building block of our society, from pre-school to grad school.  Though K-12 funding is always a challenge in the U.P. due to high transportation and winter energy costs, I am pleased to announce that the K-12 foundation grant, currently at $6,875 per pupil, will rise by $210 to a record $7,075 in the 2007-2008 school year.

U.P. citizens also fought back together in 2005 against outrageous GOP higher education formula proposals that would have slashed state funding to NMU.  In fact, the House GOP formula would have stripped $14 million from Northern Michigan University, a 31-percent decrease, over 5 years. While cutting NMU's funds, the formula would have given more money to other downstate schools in Republican districts, including a 27-percent increase for Oakland University, a 25-percent increase for Grand Valley State University, and a 16-percent increase for Central Michigan University.

Adequate funding for higher education is key to transforming Michigan's economy to meet the coming needs of the 21st century.  We simply cannot do things as we have done in the past, and we need to take full advantage of the resources Michigan Tech, NMU, Bay College, Gogebic Community College, and Finlandia University can bring to bear for our young people and prepare them to lead our state into the near future.