Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarship Program Initiative (2024)

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Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarship Program Initiative
Flag of Michigan.png
Election date
November 5, 2024
Topic
Education and Charter schools and vouchers
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
State statute		Origin
Citizens

The Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarship Program Initiative was not on the ballot in Michigan as an indirect initiated state statute on November 5, 2024.

The ballot measure would have created a program for Student Opportunity Scholarships (SOS). Organizations would have registered with the state to disburse the scholarships to certain students for public or nonpublic education, including tuition, fees, extracurricular activities, books, or computers.[1]

Text of measure

Full text

The full text is available here.

Support

Let MI Kids Learn was leading the support for this initiative as well as a companion initiative to create tax credits for contributions to organizations for the granting of Student Opportunity Scholarships.[2]

Supporters

Arguments

  • Former U.S. secretary of education Betsy DeVos said, "This is a chance for parents to take control of education in Michigan. I trust parents and I believe students. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be a shared value in Lansing. [...] Kids and parents don’t have highly paid lobbyists in Lansing, the kind that unfortunately the governor invited to the party when she vetoed the scholarships. But kids and parents have petitions. By getting your friends, your neighbors, classmates and relatives to sign, we can send a resounding message that parents aren’t interested in being dismissed or treated badly any longer when it comes to raising their children."[3]
  • Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for Let MI Kids Learn, said, "I wouldn’t just pigeonhole this as: ‘This is all just private school tuition.' The (ways) folks can put these scholarship dollars to work are super broad. People want more leverage over their local school system. They want to be able to get folks to change the schools, and they are not in love with everything that’s being taught in schools. [...] It’s reasonable to say, ‘Hey, we need to provide parents some options.' If they don’t use any of these options because they are so satisfied with the existing product, then the teachers union will continue to win."[4]

Opposition

For MI Kids, For Our Schools was leading the opposition to this initiative as well as a companion initiative to create tax credits for contributions to organizations granting the granting of Student Opportunity Scholarships.[5]

Opponents

  • Michigan Association of School Boards[5]
  • AFT Michigan[5]
  • K-12 Alliance of Michigan[5]
  • Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators (MASA)[5]
  • Michigan Parent Teacher Association (PTA)[5]
  • Michigan Education Association[5]

Arguments

  • State Board of Education President Casandra Ulbrich said, "Michigan’s public schools are not for sale. We have an abundance of choice. This isn’t about choice. This is about privatizing education. This is about taking public education dollars and turning them over to private institutions that are not accountable to taxpayers, do not have to report anything to anybody, and can use that money in any way they want.”[6]
  • Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators President Andrew Brodie said, "What we are talking about today is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The Let MI Kids Learn campaign is a voucher scheme that would provide tax credits for private school tuition.”[4]

Path to the ballot

Stages of this initiative

  • The campaign Let MI Kids Learn filed a petition with the State Board of Canvassers on November 3, 2021. The Board approved the petition on November 29, 2021.[1]
  • On December 28, 2022, the Let MI Kids Learn campaign withdrew the petition from the State Board of Canvassers, as well as the companion initiative that would have provided for income tax credits for contributions to organizations for the granting of Student Opportunity Scholarships.[7]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Michigan Board of State Canvassers, "LMKL Petition," accessed November 3, 2021
  2. ↑ Let MI Kids Learn, "Home," accessed March 22, 2022
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Michigan Live, "Betsy DeVos says ballot initiative would let parents ‘take control’ of Michigan education," February 2, 2022
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bridge Michigan, "Michigan educators to campaign against Betsy DeVos-backed petition," March 16, 2022
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 For MI Kids, For Our Schools, "Home," accessed March 22, 2022
  6. ↑ Michigan Live, "Public school advocates launch effort to stop DeVos-backed school scholarship proposal," March 16, 2022
  7. ↑ Florida Phoenix, "Conservative group withdraws DeVos-backed voucher initiative after Democrats control Lansing," January 9, 2023
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