Realizing that the New Democratic composition of the Michigan Legislature would upend their plans to circumvent both the voters of Michigan and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, backers of the anti-public education/school voucher voter initiative Let MI Kids Learn chose to withdraw the petition from consideration by the State Board of Canvassers, because it kinda sucked and they were never gonna put it before the voters anyway…
“The state announced Monday that the right-wing group pushing for a school voucher-style system in Michigan withdrew its petitions to get on the 2024 ballot…
… “We are not surprised that this disastrous petition was pulled, and we’re very pleased because this marks a major victory for public school students, parents, and educators. Over the years — and especially last November — Michiganders have shown time and time again at the ballot box that they do not support efforts to defund public education,” said Casandra Ulbrich, spokesperson for For MI Kids, For Our Schools, a ballot committee opposed to the Let MI Kids Learn proposal.”
Actually the petition failed to get enough signatures ahead of the June 1st deadline so it didn’t make the November 2020 ballot. But its backers had a plan to overcome the little obstacle on no voter approval – they planned to submit it to the GOP legislature after the election of their shiny new Republican Governor was sworn in who would not veto the hell out of it, as Whitman had vetoed all similar anti-Public Schools legislation in the past.
None of that happened, thanks to voters:
“The campaign’s likely plan after missing the June deadline was to submit the valid number of signatures to get the proposal in front of the Legislature that was then controlled by Republicans. Lawmakers could then approve it without having to submit to voter approval or be subject to rejection by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — who vetoed a similar package in November.
However, since June, both the House and Senate flipped to Democratic control and would be unlikely to pass this proposal.”
I’m not saying that opponents of the initiative were happy on Twitter, but opponents of the initiative were pretty happy on Twitter:
Secure MI Vote, a Republican-aligned ballot drive to tighten voting rules, also withdrew its signatures. That proposal was neutered by voters' passage of Prop 2, which expands voting options and keeps intact ID rules.
— David Eggert (@DavidEggert00) January 9, 2023
The DeVos family spent at least $7.5 million on the ballot drive, according to campaign-finance records. #mileg
— David Eggert (@DavidEggert00) January 9, 2023
🤣🤣🤣 That’s 7.5 mil. she’s not getting back!
They wanted to pass this with a gerrymandered legislature, exploiting a provision of the constitution that makes legislature passed statuatory initiatives non-veto able. The latter provision seems like something that should be fixed.
— Tom Richardson c.im/@CascadeTommy (@cascadetommy) January 9, 2023
Definitely. Like they said in the book… “That’s some catch.”
Hope Bets just gets on her yacht and leaves Michigan.
— Olivers best friend ☮️🕊✌🏼 (@VALlovesdumbtv) January 9, 2023
👋👋👋
This nation wide movement must be stopped. It would be nothing short of educational apartheid and time and again there is no data that supports charter schools being superior to public schools. It is another Amway Ponzi
— Michele (@Michele07317502) January 9, 2023
I have a friend on the inside who says the strategy was laid out on whiteboards with erasable markers, where the one parent gets six parents, those six parents get four more parents each, then each of those four parents get two parents…
Then Bob really is your uncle.— Brad Morrison (@bradmoreso) January 9, 2023
🤣🤣🤣
I wish that B would just move to Florida and leave us alone. MI is not a fan of her or her merc brother.
— 'The Real' So-n-So.🇺🇲🍻🐕🐈⬛ (@jehandy) January 9, 2023
👍👍👍
Seeing as how they own significant chunks of the state, I don’t really see DeVos and her brood leaving Michigan anytime soon… as much as I would like to see that eventuality come to pass.
Looks like Michiganders will just have to stay vigilant and keep electing those Democratic majorities.
That’s the best Pro-Public Education measure they could ever hope to enact.
Ole Betsy can afford the millions she’s put into her pet project, and remember that she expected to make many, many times that by nationalizing it. So don’t think for a second this is over. They’ve just retreated for the time being to lick their wounds and plan a new strategy. Rest assured they’ll be ready with a plan if they find the tiniest of cracks to exploit in the future.
Ah. Cruella DeVo has learned nothing. Quel.surpris!
Remember, always boycott Amway.