Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a lifelong Michigander. She is a lawyer, an educator, former prosecutor, State Representative and Senator. She was the first woman to lead a Senate caucus. But the most important title she boasts is MOM. Inspired by her family, she’s devoted her life to building a stronger Michigan for everyone.
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March 25, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2022
Contact: Press@michigan.gov
PHOTOS: Lt. Governor Gilchrist II Reads to Students at Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary for March is Reading Month
LANSING, Mich. — Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II visited Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary to meet with students and read Giraffe Problems by Jory John to encourage them to read for March is Reading Month. Governor Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed March 2022 as Reading Month to celebrate and promote the joys and importance of reading.
“I greatly enjoyed visiting and reading with the third graders of Adlai Stevenson Elementary in Southfield today,” said Lt. Governor Gilchrist. “I was able to meet with these bright young students and future leaders, as well as the committed educators who are nurturing and supporting them every day. Governor Whitmer and I are committed to supporting our students and valued educators in schools throughout Michigan, which is why we proposed an historic education budget to boost per student funding, deliver bonuses to educators and staff, and keep students and staff safe.”
In 2019, Governor Whitmer signed a historic School Aid Fund budget to triple the number of literacy coaches in schools
Amid a global pandemic in 2020, Governor Whitmer protected funding for schools, while also including new education investments focused on providing students, teachers, and adults across Michigan with needed resources. The budget included $161 million in flexible per pupil spending to help districts address the increased costs of educating students, $5.6 million for mental health counselors to assist children in schools across Michigan with mental health needs, $5 million in incentives to attract and retain first-year teachers, and an increase of $5.7 million to continue to fund literacy coaches and expand resources to improve training for other educators in best practices of literacy learning.
In July 2021, Governor Whitmer’s education budget included $723 million to eliminate the gap between the minimum and maximum foundation allowance by setting both at $8,700 per pupil, which other governors tried to do for nearly 30 years.
In December 2021, the Governor Whitmer signed a supplemental bill that invests nearly $1 billion in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan into Michigan's families, communities, and small businesses. The investments made to schools include $150 million for COVID school testing to keep kids safe and learning in-person and $10 million to support teacher recruitment, training, development, and retention.
In February 2022, Governor Whitmer put forward her education budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, which would make the biggest state education funding increase in 20 years-without raising taxes. It would make game-changing investments in every student, in every district, fund $1 billion in new school construction and create 40 school-based mental health clinics to serve 20,000 students, while also creating bonuses to hire or retain hundreds of thousands of school staff. Also, that same month, the Michigan Legislature passed a $1.2 billion supplemental bill investing federal resources to keep kids learning in-person.
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