To: The Michigan State House, The Michigan State Senate, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Criminal justice reform
We should be investing more money in education rather than incarceration. It has been proven it works. Stop cutting education funding.
Why is this important?
I have seen way too many students go through the education system and not be properly prepared to get a sustainable job. We worry too much about tests and not about job skills for the real world. Education funding should be increased if we want a strong future for Michigan. We need fewer tax breaks for the extreme rich.
I have seen important programs such as music, physical fitness, and art reduced or cut in school systems, although it has been proven that classes like these enhance education in many ways. Because of budget cuts, it is impossible for schools to offer these classes full time. We take so many assessment tests that the students lose a good month of learning to test preparation. We need to incorporate more life skill classes such as budgeting, sewing, and cooking so that students who leave high school know how to take care of themselves. We also need to give workers pay that can sustain them, and less money to CEO's. Even though people on the bottom of the ladder have fewer skills, without them, the ladder falls down as will our economy eventually. I challenge any politician to live like a single mother working at a retail job to really know what it is like.
I have seen important programs such as music, physical fitness, and art reduced or cut in school systems, although it has been proven that classes like these enhance education in many ways. Because of budget cuts, it is impossible for schools to offer these classes full time. We take so many assessment tests that the students lose a good month of learning to test preparation. We need to incorporate more life skill classes such as budgeting, sewing, and cooking so that students who leave high school know how to take care of themselves. We also need to give workers pay that can sustain them, and less money to CEO's. Even though people on the bottom of the ladder have fewer skills, without them, the ladder falls down as will our economy eventually. I challenge any politician to live like a single mother working at a retail job to really know what it is like.