{"id":72632,"date":"2026-02-11T15:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/?p=72632"},"modified":"2026-02-11T15:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:50:38","slug":"opinion-if-michigan-wants-to-lead-again-it-must-reinvest-in-educations-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/guest-commentary\/opinion-if-michigan-wants-to-lead-again-it-must-reinvest-in-educations-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | If Michigan wants to lead again, it must reinvest in education\u2019s basics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michigan has everything it needs to be the best state in the country again. We\u2019ve got smart kids, committed teachers and parents who care deeply about whether schools are actually preparing their children for the real world. But being #1 won\u2019t happen by accident, and it will never happen if we continue to lose sight of the basics. That\u2019s the risk Michigan is taking right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the state, school districts are quietly cutting certified librarians and scaling back physical education. These decisions don\u2019t usually generate a lot of noise, but they add up. According to reporting<\/a> by Bridge Michigan, <\/em>fewer than 1 in 10 Michigan public schools now has a full-time certified librarian. When schools start treating core supports as optional, students feel it the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"headshot
Michael Markey, R-Grand Haven, is a financial adviser and candidate for state Senate in Michigan\u2019s 31st district. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A certified school librarian isn\u2019t just there to check out books. Librarians are educators. They help students learn how to read carefully, do research and make sense of what they\u2019re seeing and hearing. They teach kids how to tell the difference between solid information and bad information, how to explain their thinking and how to ask better questions. Those skills show up everywhere\u2014in every subject and eventually in every job. Michigan\u2019s decline mirrors a broader national trend documented<\/a> by the US Department of Education and education researchers, who have tracked a significant decline in certified school librarians over the past decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This matters even more now because of how much information students are surrounded by. Artificial intelligence can generate answers in seconds, but it can\u2019t teach judgment. It can\u2019t tell a student when something doesn\u2019t add up or when a source shouldn\u2019t be trusted. Major AI developers themselves acknowledge that these systems can produce inaccurate or misleading information, a problem widely referred to as \u201challucinations<\/a>\u201d in AI research. That\u2019s exactly why schools still need adults whose job is to teach students how to think, not just how to search. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve spent my career building businesses and working with people who have to solve real problems. Whether you\u2019re hiring someone, managing a team, or making a tough decision, the basics matter. You need people who can read closely, ask smart questions and think things through. Those skills don\u2019t magically appear at age 22. They\u2019re built early, and schools play a huge role in that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michigan is making the same mistake when it comes to physical education. Research<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that regular physical activity is linked to better academic performance, improved concentration and stronger mental health in students. When kids aren\u2019t physically healthy, it affects their mental health. When mental health suffers, learning suffers too. Cutting PE might look like an easy savings on paper, but it creates bigger problems down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education doesn\u2019t work in pieces. It\u2019s a system. When we pull out the supports that help kids succeed, everything else becomes harder. Michigan\u2019s reading scores already trail the national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress or the Nation\u2019s Report Card<\/a>. We won\u2019t turn that around by pretending fundamentals don\u2019t matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In business, you don\u2019t fix problems by cutting corners and hoping for the best. You focus on what works, you do it well and you stick with it. Schools should be no different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we\u2019re serious about making Michigan #1 in education, then we need to be honest about priorities. That means valuing certified librarians who teach literacy and critical thinking. It means keeping physical education in schools so kids are healthy enough to learn. And it means making thoughtful, long-term investments instead of short-term cuts that cost more later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t about politics \u2014 it\u2019s about results. If we want Michigan to lead, we have to start by giving our kids the tools to think clearly, stay healthy and learn well. Getting the basics right isn\u2019t flashy but it\u2019s how progress actually happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In business, you don\u2019t fix problems by cutting corners and hoping for the best. If we\u2019re serious about making Michigan #1 in education, then we need to be honest about priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1975,"featured_media":72633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":true,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-11T20:32:55Z","apple_news_api_id":"8ad5caa9-7df7-40ab-ad8f-9cf91552d5e7","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-11T20:50:42Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AitXKqX33QKutj5z5FVLV5w","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[2442],"tags":[1510,1546],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[4463],"class_list":["post-72632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-commentary","tag-michigan-k-12-schools","tag-michigan-school-opinions","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion | If Michigan wants to lead again, it must reinvest in education\u2019s basics - Bridge Michigan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/guest-commentary\/opinion-if-michigan-wants-to-lead-again-it-must-reinvest-in-educations-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion | If Michigan wants to lead again, it must reinvest in education\u2019s basics - Bridge Michigan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In business, you don\u2019t fix problems by cutting corners and hoping for the best. 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