Flanagan Accepts Governor's Invitation to Help Lead Discussion on Technology in Education

Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs (517) 241-4395

Agency: Education

April 24, 2013
GRAND RAPIDS - In a speech to the Michigan School Business Officials conference today, State Superintendent Mike Flanagan thanked Governor Rick Snyder for inviting him to lead a fresh start in the discussion on integrating technology into public education.

Flanagan accepted the invitation and agreed with the Governor that this is an important discussion to continue. Earlier in the week, Flanagan had urged the reconstitution of a private work group that had come under some suspicion of meeting in secret to reform education.

"The Governor still is very interested in studying how current and future technologies can improve education delivery and outcomes for Michigan students," Flanagan said to the gathering of school business officials.

"At my urging, I believe the Governor felt these issues are best served by being in an open and public process, and he asked me to be directly involved," Flanagan said.

Flanagan expressed to the Governor that he would manage the discussion, per the Governor's request.

The conditions that Flanagan will set on the work group are that

• it will not be a discussion of school vouchers;
  
• any savings that may be realized from the use of technology will be reinvested back into the schools; and that
  
• this is a transparent process.

Flanagan will make this an inclusive process, with invitations going out to the State Board of Education; K-12 education stakeholders; early childhood education stakeholders; school business officials; teacher preparation programs; education technology experts; Early/Middle Colleges; Career and Technical Education leaders; post-secondary programs; and the public.

"Kids today are wired into technology from an early age," Flanagan said at the conference, "and we must adapt our system of education to be customized to their learning tools, and not the learning tools with which their parents and grandparents were taught."