The American public needs to focus on improvements in students’ performances and results, not just shovel money into the nation’s education system, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday during NBC’s Education Nation summit in Detroit.
“The goal of an educational system is to help [students] grow and get a career or self-enrichment,” he said Friday on Andrea Mitchell Reports. “We want our kids to learn at least a year’s worth of education each and every year.”
Snyder joined Rehema Ellis, NBC Education Correspondent, just days after installing an emergency financial manager to deal with the multitude of financial problems Detroit faces.
“This is a crisis. And we need to turn it around,” he said during the Education Nation summit, designed to foster a national dialogue about the future of education in America.
Last year, Snyder introduced a program called Pathways to Potential, which assigns social workers to Detroit public schools to ensure students attend class. The social workers provide transportation and tutoring, among other services.
After implementing a P-20 strategy that focuses on pre-natal through lifelong learning, Snyder said he has seen improvement in the public school students’ test scores, attendance, and graduation rates.
In an attempt to close billion dollar deficits, school districts across the country are shuttering. Schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, Detroit, and Chicago will shut down due to financial shortfalls. By the end of the school year, about 30,000 children living in Chicago will be affected by the closing of more than 50 public schools.
“This isn’t about numbers, this is about kids,” Snyder said. “We can’t give up on them.”
Michele Richinick