West Michigan Policy Forum continues to attack public education funding in latest video, with two major players from the anti-public education camp

Two weeks ago, the West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF), which was created in 2009 by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, posted a video conversation between Amway co-Chairman Doug DeVos and Jase Bolger, former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. Bolger is also the state policy consultant for the WMPF. 

Since leaving the Michigan State House, Bolger went on to create Tusker Strategies, LLC. On the website of Tusker Strategies, Bolger brags about his accomplishments while being a member of the State Legislature. Some os Bolger’s “accomplishment” include:

• Expanding School Choice options in Michigan, which has always been about the dismantling of Public Education.
• Undermining teachers retirement plans by getting the state to move public school district teacher pensions to a 401K plan, claiming the district would be able to spend more on students.
• Putting in place a system to attack teachers for “under-performing”, based on students grades. 

In the 7 minute video, DeVos says things like, “we have to have greater accountability with Public Schools”, especially with increased funding but no evidence of improved performance. It may be that this is true, but neither DeVos nor Bolger provide concrete examples of how there is real accountability. 

What DeVos and Bolger mostly focus on are the two policies that were implemented by the GOP controlled Michigan Legislature and how the outgoing Democratic majority has overturned those policies, specifically the A to F repeal and the 3rd Grade reading law. 

The A through F policy was passed during the lame duck session of 2018, known as HB 5526. With the A through F policy, the state would grade public schools on student academic performance; student academic growth; English learner progress; graduation rates (for high schools only); and the academic performance of students compared to students in demographically similar schools. HB 5526 was repealed in after the Democrats controlled the State Legislature in 2023. 

The WMPF posted an article in May of 2023 attacking the Democratic majority for wanting to repeal the A through F legislation, using a report from the Great Lakes Education Project, which was created by Betsy DeVos after her failed school voucher ballot initiative in 2000.

The other issue that DeVos and Bolger discussed was the 3rd bill that the GOP got passed in 2015, HB 4822. In 2019, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy stated that Michigan’s 3rd Grade Reading Law was a harmful solution to the literacy crisis. The group went on to say that, “Mandatory retention will not help Michigan students read better. Instead, it raises the stakes on the M-STEP without providing adequate resources to catch students up.”

The 3rd Grade Reading Law was repealed by the Democrats in 2023, and the WMPF took the opportunity to post on their blog an article from the Executive Director of the DeVos-created Great Lakes Education Project, which advocates to keep the law and slam the Democratic lawmakers for wanting to repeal it.

It is interesting that Jase Bolger and Doug DeVos have done a great deal to undermine public schools in Michigan, help to adopt policies that would further erode public education – DeVos through funding candidates that attached public education, and Bolger as a state legislator who did undermine Public Education.

These are the types of policies and practices that the West Michigan Policy Forum promotes, policies that erode the public good. This is exactly why we all need to pay attention to this organization and expose them for their involvement in far right politics, especially now with how public education is likely to be under increased pressure after the 2024 Elections.