Gov. Gretchen Whitmer may be tiptoeing around the state constitution in stripping the education department of most of its funding, but we support her objectives in doing so.

The governor’s executive budget provides just $162.8 million for the Michigan Department of Education, down 75% from the $647.3 million approved by the Legislature last year.

The money is shifted to the governor’s new Michigan Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential (MiLEAP), which is part of the executive office and controlled by her. Much of the money goes to funding the Great Start Readiness program to prepare children for learning. It will also support the governor’s goals of creating a higher skilled workforce.

Whitmer is also moving some education functions now managed by the departments of Labor and Economic Opportunity and Treasury to MiLEAP. If she’s successful, nearly all education services in the state will be under her direct control.

“This is really motivated by recognizing that an antiquated disparate structure doesn’t serve any of our goals, and that’s true for the department as well,” Whitmer said of her decision.

She’s absolutely right, as we’ve said many, many times of the Michigan Board of Education.

Michigan is one of a very few states in which an elected school board and the governor share responsibility for schools. The bifurcated system works against the ability of the state to form and execute a uniform strategy for improving education performance.

It also disperses accountability for the chronic failure of Michigan’s schools.

States that have improved student achievement, most notably Tennessee and Massachusetts, have done so with a governor-directed approach that puts in place a blueprint for success the state’s chief executive is responsible for executing.

If it doesn’t work, voters and taxpayers know whom to hold accountable.

– The Detroit News