Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer gave her yearly State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. In Gov. Whitmer’s address, she speaks on the many challenges that Michiganders are facing, that she would try to resolve during her time in office. “The State of the State address is an opportunity to talk about the issues that make a real difference in people’s lives and focus on what we’re going to get done this year,” Gov. Whitmer said.

Gov. Whitmer tackled current and expected issues that directly impact us, students of Michigan, issues such as,

• Public safety for students
• School budgets, and investments
• Easier accessibility for college

Gov. Whitmer discussed public safety for all students of Michigan, specifically regarding their safety on their daily commutes.“I will work hard to make sure everyone can get home at the end of the day,” Whitmer said. She is focusing on improving security in communities, such as increasing police officers, to help ensure that everyone can walk home and that the probability of violent crimes will decrease due to the increase of officers in communities. Safety is an important aspect in today’s society for we have seen an increase in fights, bullying, and threats across the community.

Gov. Whitmer then talks about how she closed the funding gap between schools, and how she brought investment to an all time high, “made record investments in our children and schools by leading with our shared values: We closed the funding gap between schools and brought student investment to an all-time high—4 years in a row without raising taxes” Gov. Whitmer said.

In doing so, schools are now able to have an increase in building new libraries, and labs, “We made a generational investment to build new libraries and labs”, an improvement of school quality, and “improve the air in classrooms and water from drinking fountains”. Gov. Whitmer focuses on the budget that schools receive which benefits us students, because we will have better access to cleaner water, and cleaner air which is better for our safety, and an improvement on our education since we will have easier access to hands-on work in labs, and books. Gov. Whitmer is also trying to get more after-school programs for us to achieve new levels of education, “Whether you’re a 3rd grader learning about the solar system, a 6th grader focusing on fractions, or a junior sharpening persuasive writing skills—tutoring addresses your specific learning challenges”, Gov. Whitmer said. No matter the grade you are in, everyone has the right to greater education, and for those who can not afford programs outside of school, Governor Whitmer is trying to achieve a new level of help for those who do not have access to these programs.

Finally, Gov. Whitmer talks about our life after High school, and our new stage of life, college. To explain, Gov. Whitmer talks about how she would like to decrease the overall cost of attending college, whether that be community, private, or public college. Many of us stress that we will not be able to receive the highest benefit of college, due to how expensive it is, however with Gov. Whitmer’s new policy changes, she is trying to achieve, free tuition for 65% of graduating seniors, “by thousands of dollars for most students and makes college tuition-free for 65% of graduating seniors” Gov. Whitmer said. College is pricey for many, the decision to go to college is simply out of reach for this reason. This leaves many in debt due to loans to pay for classes and resources, however, Governor Whitmer is going to try her best to help many Seniors who graduate and are in pursuit of attending college, much easier, which benefits people like me and others seniors across dearborn, and all of Michigan.