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Four Michigan gubernatorial candidates tried Friday to convince a group of educators from across Michigan that their plans for increasing accountability for schools, improving curriculum with teacher input, investing in educators, and reversing the state’s academic slide were the best options.
The candidates gathered at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center for an education forum hosted by the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. The event was moderated by Zoe Clark, political director at Michigan Public, and the candidates answered questions submitted by MEA members.
Participating were Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state; Republican Mike Cox, former state attorney general; Independent Mike Duggan, former Detroit mayor; and Democrat Chris Swanson, Genesee County sheriff. The MEA invited all the major party candidates in December.
The forum gave the educators an opportunity to gauge how those who want to be the next governor would put a stamp on education and potentially affect their jobs. They heartily applauded as Benson, a former teacher whose parents were also teachers, was introduced. Cox faced laughter during his remarks when he suggested that the average teacher with 20 years of experience is likely making $90,000, with benefits bringing their total compensation to $150,000.
His comment was a response to a question about how each candidate plans to increase starting pay for teachers and retain quality educators.
Benson replied that she would push to ensure the average starting salary is at least $60,000, about $20,000 more than the average starting salary in the state. She said it’s a sign of respect for the important work educators do daily.
“You will have a voice … and I will reflect my commitment to that by ensuring that your compensation reflects the respect, the professional respect, that you all have earned. To me, that is a critical component of attracting and retaining talented people,” Benson said.
Cox, who said that as a Republican, he doesn’t expect the union’s endorsement, took a different approach, saying that when Michigan fourth graders near the bottom in the nation in reading proficiency,”it’s hard to tell the people of Michigan that you need more money.
“You may not want to hear it, but that’s the truth. Accountability brings results. Results bring more money for teachers.”
Candidates were asked what they would do as governor to ensure the safety and stability of students in the midst of stepped up federal immigration actions.
Duggan said the pain of having ICE in your community is “very real, and I dealt with it for 12 years as mayor of Detroit.”
He encouraged people to look at how the city has approached immigration enforcement, noting that the Detroit Police Department has not signed agreements with ICE that he said would make the local department an arm of the federal agency. However, he said, if ICE learns that someone the department has arrested is wanted by the federal agency, that person will be turned over to ICE. The alternative, Duggan said, is “ICE goes into the neighborhood and creates more distress.”
Swanson, a 33-year law enforcement officer, was emphatic in his response, saying “schools are off limits” and criticizing ICE for the way it is carrying out immigration actions.
“ICE is doing it wrong. I’ve worked with the FBI, Secret Service, ATF, DEA for 33 years. We work with the most dangerous of cases. We don’t have people protesting us. We don’t have people scared,” Swanson said.
The candidates had varied responses when asked how they would improve education in Michigan.
Cox said he would opt into the federal tax credit program that was part of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which would fund scholarships for parents to send their children to private school. He said he would be focused on accountability for schools and would adopt the policies in place in Mississippi that have helped improve student achievement.
Among Benson’s priorities: Ensuring equitable funding for schools, ensuring educators have the “compensation and wraparound services and support needed to do their job, and investing in postsecondary support.
Duggan said he would stop the practice that’s been in place for years of lawmakers dipping into the School Aid Fund that was meant to provide funding for K-12 schools to use it for higher education. He said he wants educators to be chiefly involved in deciding curriculum issues, rather than lawmakers. “Do you want the legislators deciding whether algebra II or art should be in the school?” he asked the educators.
Swanson, replying to Cox’s remarks about Mississippi, said, “I’m not interested in the Mississippi model. I’m interested in the Michigan model.”
He said Michigan needs to focus on fixing its problems. Programs like free school meals for all and free preschool for all (both regardless of income) are “the baseline to get them set up for an algorithm of success.” He talked about the importance of setting students up for postsecondary success whether they’re going to college or not.
“I’m not interested in making a decision as a governor for the next election. I’m interested in making decisions for education that have generational impact,” Swanson said.
Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.