Michigan lawmaker questions legality of new education department

(The Center Square) – Michigan lawmakers and the State Board of Education are questioning if the creation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s second education department is legal.

Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, called on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to block the department’s creation. 

Last week, the board voted unanimously to ask Nessel for her opinion on whether Whitmer’s recently unveiled Michigan Department of Lifelong, Education, Advancement and Potential is legal.

The vote requested constitutional clarity from Nessel’s office as the new department overlaps with the state board’s responsibilities, including teacher assessment and curriculum assignments.

“There is no reason for MiLEAP to exist other than the vanity of Gov. Whitmer,” Rigas said in a statement. “The only thing this new department does different is give the governor more control. I applaud state board members for pushing back against that and I join their calls for Attorney General Nessel to promptly review both the constitutionality of MiLEAP and its proposed agenda. I agree that we need to improve our education policies in this state, but we could do so much simpler and cheaper if the governor’s ego would get out of the way.”

If enacted, MiLEAP would be the fourth new government agency Whitmer has created since 2019, counting the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office and the Michigan Office of Rural Development.

MiLEAP is meant to improve education outcomes from preschool through postsecondary by establishing clear metrics, collaborating with cross-sector leaders at the local, regional, and state level, and developing a shared action plan.

MiLEAP has three goals: to add capacity in the early learning team, to accelerate progress toward the Sixty by 30 goal to earn a skill certificate or degree after high school, tuition-free; and to prioritize community, regional and state partnerships that help students succeed.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of Michigan’s 1.4 million students have struggled to recover from learning loss or attend school regularly.

A report from Stanford University partnering with the Associated Press found Michigan had the fourth highest rate of K-12 student absenteeism among 40 states and the District of Columbia during the 2021-22 school year.

About 38.5% of the state’s 1.4 million K-12 students missed 10% or more school days that year, nearly doubling the pre-pandemic 2018-19 academic year.

Neither Whitmer’s office or Nessel’s office have responded to a request for comment.