Dear Friend,

On Monday, I was at an elementary school in West Michigan to serve free lunch to students and talk to teachers and staff about the real difference these meals make in their students’ lives.  

No child should go hungry at school. Free breakfast and lunch help kids focus, teachers teach, and saves parents hundreds of dollars a year. Since the beginning of last school year, we have been feeding all 1.4 million public school students free breakfast and lunch, making sure no child has to learn on an empty stomach.

Outside of the classroom, free school meals are a game changer for busy families. They save moms and dads time, reduce stress, and put over $850 a year from saving on groceries, per kid, back in their pockets. Michigan families count on free school meals. We need a budget that makes them a priority.

As the Michigan Legislature works on a budget, we need to make sure it’s one that continues to feed our kids.

Let’s get it done.

Sincerely,

Gretchen Whitmer

Governor

Let’s Set Michigan Students Up for Success

Michigan’s new budget must improve our schools and help our children succeed.

Since I took office, we’ve made a lot of progress. We closed the funding gap, fed all 1.4 million public school students free breakfast and lunch, tripled literacy coaches in schools, and put thousands more teachers on free paths to the classroom.

Unfortunately, the school year started weeks ago, and schools still don’t have a budget because of inaction in the Michigan Legislature. Supporting our students is more important than ever, as we are facing a literacy crisis with only one in four 4th graders reading proficiently. That’s unacceptable. We recently changed the law to use proven phonics-based reading strategies, but we need to keep going. Let’s build on the progress we’ve made, not go back.

Let’s pass another bipartisan education budget to:

• Feed our kids free breakfast and lunch,
• Double down on literacy,
• Train more skilled, qualified teachers,
• Make record investments in classrooms,
• And expand campus safety and mental health resources.

I’ve signed six balanced, bipartisan budgets since I took office to make our schools better places to learn.

This year, we will make it seven.

Make Your Voice Heard

I urge Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass a balanced, bipartisan budget. Both parties will have to compromise to get this done right, and that’s the way it ought to be.

To get in touch with your representatives in Lansing, make your voice heard, and stay up to date on legislative activity, please check out the links below.