October 16, 2009
LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today was named Policy Leader of the Year by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).
The NASBE, a nonprofit association that represents state and territorial boards of education, serves as a vital resource for states in the areas of research, policy development and skills training.
"Education is the most important, long-term strategy for transforming Michigan's economy, bar none," Granholm said. "Our ability to reshape and diversify our economy is wholly dependent on having a skilled, educated workforce. That is why we have focused so intensely on reforming our educational standards - with more to come. I accept this award on behalf of all those in our education system who have been fearless, who embrace the hard job of reform and high expectations, especially now, during such stressful economic times."
"Jennifer Granholm has recognized that in difficult economic times, the future health and prosperity of her state's children and of Michigan as a whole is inexorably linked to a strong and vital public education," said NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn.
The Granholm administration, aided by the efforts of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan, the governor's Senior Advisor on Education and Communication Chuck Wilbur, members of the state Board of Education, and state lawmakers, has strengthened Michigan's education system in numerous ways, including:
- expanding preschool programs and creating a public-private partnership, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, to improve early childhood care and education;
- adopting some of the most rigorous K-8 content standards and high school graduation requirements in the nation;
- creating the Michigan Promise scholarship - the first universal college scholarship - which sets the expectation that students will continue their education beyond high school;
- establishing Promise Zones, new public-private partnerships in 10 Michigan communities with high poverty rates, that will guarantee all children the financial support to obtain a college degree;
- developing the Michigan College Access Network, another public-private partnership, linking Michigan communities together to help more students not only attend college but also to succeed in earning degrees and other credentials;
- launching the No Worker Left Behind job-training program in 2007 that provides qualifying participants two years of free tuition up to $10,000 at any Michigan community college, university or other approved training program. This month, enrollment in the program topped 100,000.
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