LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, issued the following statement on Wednesday night after listening to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2024 State of the State address:
“The governor’s worried about free community college for ‘every’ student, while according to her own commission’s report, two-thirds of our fourth and eighth graders aren’t proficient in reading or math. Under this governor, Michigan’s fourth-grade reading scores have dropped 11 spots nationally since 2019 to 43rd out of 50 states. The governor needs to focus on fixing these problems first to make sure that our kids are prepared for academic success.
“Instead of investing in education or fixing the roads, Democrats blew through a record $9 billion surplus largely on corporate welfare and one-time special projects. Meanwhile, the governor and Democrat-controlled Legislature have gutted accountability standards in our schools.
“The governor has signed bills to stop reporting A-F grades for school performance, eliminate student growth as a factor in evaluating teachers, and change the law to base teacher pay on years of service rather than merit. It’s easy to make big promises to score political points, but the actions of the governor are not helping our kids or our state to succeed.”
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