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Governor Applauds Congress for Extending Unemployment
Benefits
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Governor
Hails New W.K. Kellogg Foundation Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching
Fellowship
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Michigan Working to be Wind Manufacturing Center,
Governor Says
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K-12
Funding Efforts Continue
Governor Applauds
Congress for Extending Unemployment Benefits
On Thursday the governor issued the following statement
regarding congressional passage of an extension in unemployment
benefits:
“I want to thank Congress, especially members of
the Michigan
congressional delegation, for extending unemployment benefits. Almost
100,000 Michigan workers who would have exhausted
their benefits by the end of this year will receive help while the economy
recovers and we continue to focus on creating jobs and diversifying our
economy.
“I am grateful Congress has taken this action, I am
thankful the president will sign this bill, and I am pleased that we will be
able to continue to protect the unemployed during these difficult economic times
while injecting more resources into the Michigan
economy.”
Governor Hails New
W.K. Kellogg Foundation Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching
Fellowship
In her radio address this week, the governor said
Michigan has been chosen for a new teaching
fellowship program that will benefit almost 20,000 Michigan public school
students in high-need schools.
The program will train 240 new math and science teachers
to teach in middle and high schools that desperately need teachers in these
subjects. Over a period of five years, almost 20,000 Michigan public school
students will receive high-quality education in science, technology, engineering
and math from these new teachers.
The statewide teaching fellowship program is made
possible by a $16.7 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The result is the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching
Fellowship.
Key
messages:
- Vulnerable
students in high-need schools are going to receive innovative, high-quality
instruction that otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten.
- The Michigan teaching
fellowship is an investment in the future of our children, the future of our
workforce, and the future of our state. It will transform education for
both children and teachers, and it will prepare 21st century minds
for 21st century jobs.
- This fellowship
will be transformational not only for teachers and students but also for the
Michigan
universities that will educate the new math and science teachers. That’s
because participating universities will first have to agree to overhaul their
teacher education programs. Existing math and science programs will be
replaced with new ones based on collaboration between the schools of arts and
sciences and education.
- Many details
remain to be worked out. In January, the participating universities will
be announced as will the Michigan school districts where the new
teachers will be placed.
Michigan Working to
be Wind Manufacturing Center, Governor
Says
The governor said Michigan is working to become a world center
for wind and clean-energy manufacturing, which is part of her strategy to grow
the state’s economy and create jobs. The governor’s remarks came during
her address on Wednesday to the American Wind Energy Association’s Small and
Community Wind Conference & Exhibition in Detroit.
Michigan is
well-positioned to be a leader in wind energy manufacturing given the state’s
manufacturing talent and infrastructure, and its geographical location which
enables wind products to be shipped via the Great
Lakes, the governor said. She added that the state is helping
the wind industry in areas such as capital acquisition, job-training, and
research.
Key
messages:
- Michigan is home
to one of the world’s greatest 20th century manufacturing industries,
automobile manufacturing. But our goal is to also become the home of one
of the world’s greatest 21st century manufacturing industries: wind and
clean-energy manufacturing.
- Detroit and Michigan served as the
Arsenal of Democracy during World War II. Today, as our nation faces the
challenges of combating climate change and reducing our dependence on foreign
oil, Michigan again is ready to serve. We
are ready to be the arsenal of clean energy for the United
States and the world.
- There are already
more than 70 companies in Michigan involved in wind
manufacturing. Wind companies looking for a great place to invest need
to come to Michigan.
K-12 Funding Efforts
Continue
This week the governor traveled to Saginaw, Traverse City,
Macomb County and Monroe to participate in roundtable discussions
with local school board officials, superintendents, educators and parents about
the impact of cuts in funding for K-12 schools.
Efforts continue to
find revenues to restore cuts in school aid. The governor wrote an op-ed
on K-12 funding that appears in today’s The Detroit News. Following is a
link to the article: http://www.detnews.com/article/20091106/OPINION01/911060345/1008/opinion01/Stop-school-aid-bleeding
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