Forum to Focus on Changing Michigan’s Culture of Education
MEA Voice Today, November 9, 2005

Your Child, a coalition of education and family organizations that includes MEA as a significant contributing member, is sponsoring a series of public forums with The Detroit News to receive input on how schools, parents, businesses and communities can work together to change the culture of education in Michigan.

Jobs in the new economy will require much higher job skills and more sophisticated workers, and students will need to attend college or seek other advanced training to get these jobs, Your Child says. Increasing the number of college graduates will be necessary to assure a healthy Michigan economy in the future.

Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley, speaking at the first forum in Grand Rapids on Nov. 2, warned that not enough parents in Michigan believe their children need to attend college.

Recent Your Child polling, he said, shows less than 30 percent of the state’s parents believe a college education is essential to their child’s success.

“Michigan’s economy is in a headlong slide, and education is the only route out of this mess,” Finley told the more than 150 teachers, administrators and business and community leaders attending the forum. “We are seeing a lackluster commitment toward education in the homes of Michigan, and this is not just an urban problem. It’s a problem across the state.

“The issue is not so much what we’re doing, but rather the culture of the state toward education. We have to start now to prepare our children for the new economy.”

Fred Keller, president and CEO of Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, said education needs to focus on career goals and teaching relevant skills.

“Students need to be exposed to career opportunities from the sixth grade on,” Keller said. “People learn best when what they are learning is relevant to their lives. The idea is that students identify where they want to be and pull themselves through the education system rather than us pushing them through it.”

Other Your Child/Detroit News forums are scheduled Monday, Jan. 23, at Jackson Community College, and Friday, Feb. 17, at Wayne County Community College.

The forums are free and open to the public.