March 23, 2007

LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today discussed her upcoming appearance at the annual Governor's Education Summit.  The summit, which will be held on Monday, March 26 in Lansing, brings together educators, business people and Michigan citizens to discuss how to ensure educational success for Michigan children and how to turn educational advancement into economic success for the entire state.

"Education is so important - especially right now - because it truly is the key to revitalizing Michigan's economy," Granholm said.  "Experts across the country agree that investing in education is the single most effective strategy for stoking a state's economic growth.   That's why our schools and our kids are the foundation of our state's economic plan."

Granholm highlighted the steps that her administration has already taken to ensure that Michigan children will be successful in classrooms throughout the state.  These steps include new curriculum requirements for K-8 schools, as well as new high school curriculum standards that are among the most rigorous in the nation.  The governor also established the Michigan Promise scholarship, providing $4,000 to every single student in Michigan to ensure the opportunity to get technical training or to attend college.  These critical steps will help prepare Michigan children for the cutting-edge jobs that are coming to Michigan and requiring a well-educated workforce.

While Michigan has made great strides in recent years, Governor Granholm underscored that there is still more work to be done.  Granholm again called for legislators to kick the state's economic plan into overdrive, particularly in education.  Granholm supports expanding early education by making full-day preschool available and requiring kindergarten for all Michigan children; raising the drop-out age so all students are required to stay in school until they are 18 years old; and continuing to make critical investments so that students and teachers alike have the tools necessary to ensure that Michigan classrooms breed success and deliver opportunity.

"We can't afford to cut funding for education at the very moment when we need it the most to be competitive in the future" Granholm said. "I've laid out a budget that is a blueprint to ensure that we can invest in our children and our schools, as well as in diversifying our economy, training and retraining Michigan workers, and providing universal access to affordable health care."

The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.  The address will also be available on the Governor's Web site on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. 

Broadcasters Note: Governor Granholm's radio address can be accessed through Sunday evening exclusively through the Members Only page of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Web site. 

Publishers Note: The text of today's address is attached.

# # #

GOVERNOR JENNIFER M. GRANHOLM
Friday, March 23, 2007

This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Next week, I'll be speaking at the annual Governor's Education Summit. The summit is a conversation with educators, business people and Michigan citizens about how we can ensure that our schools are helping all kids learn - and how educational success for our children translates into economic success for our state.

Education is so, so important - especially right now - because it truly is the key to revitalizing Michigan's economy. Experts across the country agree that investing in education is the single most effective strategy for stoking a state's economic growth. And that's why our schools and our kids are the foundation of our state's economic plan.

We've already come together to make a number of groundbreaking changes in Michigan - changes that raise the bar for Michigan students and ensure that our kids have the tools they need to succeed in the classroom and in life. We've implemented new standards for K-8 schools, and set in place new high school standards that are among the most rigorous in the nation. And, we created the Michigan Promise scholarship - $4,000 that gives every single student in Michigan the opportunity to get technical training or attend college.

Why will these first steps pay off? Because the cutting-edge jobs that are coming to Michigan require a well-educated workforce. And these good-paying jobs will maintain Michigan's high quality of life, and keep our kids in Michigan.

While we've made great progress, there is still a lot of work to be done. That's why we need to kick our economic plan into overdrive, to redouble our efforts, particularly in education. This means expanding early education by making full day preschool available and requiring kindergarten for all Michigan kids. It means raising the drop-out age so we require all students to stay in school until they are 18 years old.  It means continuing to make critical investments so that students and teachers alike have the tools to make sure that our classrooms breed success and deliver opportunity. We can't afford to cut funding for education at the very moment when we need it the most to be competitive in the future.

I've laid out a budget that is a blueprint to ensure that we can invest in our kids and our schools, as well as in diversifying our economy, training and retraining Michigan workers, and providing universal access to affordable health care.

But that means we need to act now, with real urgency, to solve our fiscal crisis. Working together, and investing in education, we can make sure that Michigan is the best place for us and our kids to live, learn and earn.

Thank you for listening.