Governor Speaks Out While On Mackinac Island

Taken from a lengthy article about here presentation:EDUCATION: She also asked the business community to get behind her 21st Century Schools Fund, which uses former payments to non-Durant schools to cover grants to design or build smaller high schools to replace current schools that are struggling."Replace those large impersonal high schools that fail with small personal high schools that work," she said, adding that the six middle colleges around the state are examples of what the program would create.And she said the program is even more attractive because, as proposed, it would not mean additional taxes or even additional spending over the current year budget.The Senate had shifted the funds to a general infrastructure improvement fund available to more districts, but since the most recent Revenue Estimating Conference the funds have been discussed as a way to fill the hole in the School Aid Fund.Ms. Granholm was not the only leader Friday to ask attendees for school funding. Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Connie Calloway asked an earlier session to support at least one new high school in the district."I would like for all of us at Mackinac to invest in Osborn Community," Ms. Calloway said, adding the neighborhood has the highest concentration of school aid children in the state and some of the oldest buildings in the district. "These are buildings we would not go to school in. We cannot bring them up to date."The high school in the community is also one of five the district is restructuring for next school year to try to bring up test scores she said.Ms. Granholm said she would not be willing to consider proposals that would back off from the state's current graduation requirements. "All students now must meet these tough new graduation requirements," she said. "That expectation must be maintained."