Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has created a new state department focused on promoting pre-kindergarten access and higher education in Michigan, shaking up the existing state education department that she does not control.
Whitmer’s office said Wednesday the new Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Achievement and Potential, or MiLEAP, will feature offices governing early childhood education, higher education and “education partnerships.”
The new department will lead statewide efforts to ensure that all young children “enter kindergarten with the tools and ability to succeed in school” and that “every Michigander has the skill certificate or degree they need to advance,” according to an executive order the governor signed Tuesday.
The plan marks a significant shift in direction for state government as the Michigan Department of Education has traditionally been the lead agency on education-related policies and programs.
Nikki Snyder, a Republican member of the elected State Board of Education, which oversees the state Education Department, said she was already contacting attorneys to see if the move is legal. But the state’s superintendent of public instruction, Michael Rice, acknowledged Wednesday that Whitmer has the legal authority to reorganize the Michigan Department of Education.
“For too long, we have thought of education as K-12, but we know that’s not good enough,” Whitmer said in a statement. “I’m implementing MiLEAP today because we need to get every kid started early, in pre-K, so they succeed in kindergarten, have a path after graduation to get higher education tuition-free, and forge strong partnerships with our employers so they can get a good-paying, high-skill and in-demand job.”
Whitmer didn’t hold a news conference to announce the new department Wednesday but provided reporters with the executive order and comments from supporters of the move.
The Democratic governor, who began her second term in January, has focused on expanding pre-kindergarten educational opportunities for all 4-year-olds in Michigan and increasing the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree.
“Establishing MiLEAP ensures all available resources, data and dollars are aligned around a single vision — supporting an education system focused on lifelong learning that can support the economy of the future and help anyone make it in Michigan,” according to a “talking point” document obtained by The Detroit News on Wednesday morning.
Questions about new agency’s funding
The document says the Michigan Department of Education would continue to oversee K-12 education. But the governor was moving functions from multiple departments to align toward her goals.
“MiLEAP is charged with helping people make it in Michigan from preschool to postsecondary,” the “talking points” document says. “It’s focused is on preparing children for kindergarten, helping more people earn a skill certificate or degree that helps them get a good paying job and mobilizing all our resources (inside and outside of school buildings) to make this happen.”
The governor’s plan shifts the state’s preschool program, Great Start Readiness, from the Department of Education to the new state department, a move one former state school superintendent described as significant.
“It’s a pretty integral part of MDE,” said Mike Flanagan, a retired state superintendent of public instruction.
It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday how the new department would be funded, although the existing offices and programs being transferred from other departments have existing state funding. The new executive order takes effect Dec. 1.
The Legislature approved the state’s new budget last month — Whitmer hasn’t signed it into law yet — and the budget didn’t include plans for a new state department.
, under the Michigan Constitution, the elected State Board of Education is the “general planning and coordinating body for all public education, including higher education.” The board appoints the state superintendent of public instruction, currently Rice, and governs the Department of Education.
Whitmer’s executive order stated the “nothing in this executive order should be construed to diminish the constitutional authority of the State Board of Education to provide leadership and general supervision over all public education…”
Moves by past governors
But the Michigan Constitution gives the governor broad power to organize and reorganize state agencies, including specific offices and functions that fall under the Michigan Department of Education’s review, Flanagan said.
Past governors have taken parts of MDE’s functions and moved them to other state departments. Republican former Gov. John Engler moved K-12 testing to the Treasury Department, a move that Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm reversed. Whitmer’s executive order transfers management of college scholarship programs from the Treasury Department to the new state department.
Most governors would “like ultimate control of everything (at MDE) at some point if they could,” Flanagan said.
“And that’s the way it is in most states,” said Flanagan, who was state superintendent of public instruction from 2006 to 2015 while Granholm and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder was in office. “But there are some advantages to independence.”
In a Wednesday statement, Rice said he respects Whitmer’s “constitutional authority to restructure state government” and took over the Great Start Readiness Program, also known as GSRP, which provides free preschool to about 38,000 4-year-olds annually.
“Our goal at MDE is to work every day to maximally benefit Michigan children and families,” Rice said. “I’ve been assured that this transfer will carry on that commitment, including to our 4-year-olds in the state’s GSRP pre-school program, top ranked in the country.”
Whitmer’s executive order also transfers an office in the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to the new department that has been focused on achieving her goal of 60% of adults in Michigan having a college degree or certificate by 2030. She is moving the state’s tri- share program for shared child care expenses between employees, employers and the government from the labor department to MiLEAP.
Under the executive order, child care licensing in the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs will move to the new education department. Schools and private preschools that participate in the Department of Education-run Great Start Readiness Program also have to get licensed through the state licensing department.
The Michigan Constitution limits the executive branch to no more than 20 administrative departments, a cap Whitmer remains under with the reorganization plan.
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, said Whitmer’s moves would just grow the size of state government.
“More government does not fix bad government,” Nesbitt said Wednesday in a statement. “I believe the people of Michigan would prefer our governor focus more on ensuring children can read and less on scaling back education accountability standards and creating more government bureaucracy.”
Whitmer’s executive order also transfers management of the State Archives from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
In another step, the governor also moved the rural economic development office in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. That office will be renamed the Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity, according to the executive order.
State board members ‘blindsided’
The new state budget will spend a record $21.4 billion on K-12 education and increase per-pupil funding for Michigan schools by $611 million.
Several state officials were briefed on the governor’s plans for a new department on Wednesday morning, according to two sources.
Nikki Snyder, one of two Republicans on the eight-member State Board of Education, said she had learned of the plans for the new department through others in the education field. Snyder was “blindsided” by the news, he said.
The Department of Health and Human Services already administers some birth-through-kindergarten programs, and the Great Start Readiness Program, the state’s preschool initiative, and after-school programs fall under the Department of Education, Snyder said.
Higher education is covered by locally controlled boards that govern public universities and community colleges, she added.
“I am in the process of reaching out to attorneys to see if this is legal,” Snyder said of the new department. “If it is not, action must be taken.
“This is more bureaucracy, more government, less accountability and more dollars that will be diverted and not directed by people,” he added.
Most states have a higher education commission that governs universities and community colleges. Michigan’s system is more decentralized, Flanagan said.
Two Democratic members of the State Board of Education issued a joint statement, saying the new department must be “not just another bureaucratic entity but a truly effective organization that addresses the longstanding issues in our education system.”
“As a voice for Michigan schools, children, teachers and parents, we want to stress the urgency of getting this right. Our education system is under attack, and the stakes are high,” the statement from Pamela Pugh and Mitchell Robinson said. “Michigan has taken important steps to ensure our children are set up for success, and we cannot afford to fail now.”
Chandra Madafferi, a longtime teacher from Oakland County and president-elect of the Michigan Education Association, touted the new department in a statement from the governor’s office.
“Education is a lifelong pursuit, and it’s important that we provide the scaffolding needed to assist students and parents every step along the way,” Madafferi said. “MiLEAP will help create stronger pathways to success for students from preschool through higher education and help them realize their full potential.”