Let MI Kids Learn submits signatures to put controversial proposal before lawmakers

Organizers behind a controversial education proposal to establish a tax credit in Michigan to fund scholarships to cover educational expenses — including private school tuition — said they turned in more than 500,000 signatures Wednesday to put the measure before state lawmakers.

The Let MI Kids Learn proposal, backed by the DeVos family, blew past the filing deadline in June to bring the initiative before state legislators this year. Thus the state Bureau of Elections is not legally required to vet the signatures submitted and recommend certification to the state's elections panel until after the midterm election.

But organizers hope the initiative bypasses the ballot altogether and instead is adopted by lawmakers this year or next, if Republicans retain their majorities in the Michigan House and Senate in upcoming November elections.

"Exciting change is coming for Michigan students and their families with this petition initiative," Let MI Kids Learn communications coordinator Amy Hawkins said at a news conference Wednesday. "Change is coming to offer more educational changes.

More: Pence visits Michigan to tout DeVos-backed scholarship opponents deride as voucher scheme

More: Republican-backed Secure MI Vote, Let MI Kids Learn blow past filing deadline

The Let MI Kids Learn plan includes two initiatives:

One would create a scholarship called the Student Opportunity Scholarship to provide grants to families of K-12 students to cover educational expenses such as online classes, tutoring or tuition.

The second would create a new tax credit for those who contribute to the program. The proposal would cap tax credits for donors and businesses that contribute to the scholarship fund at $500 million annually. Opponents contend the proposal amounts to a voucher system to divert taxpayer dollars from public schools to private ones.

"Betsy DeVos' dangerous school voucher plan will guarantee less funding for local public schools across the state," Casandra Ulbrich, a spokeswoman for a coalition opposing the measure, said in a statement Wednesday. Ulbrich also serves as president of the State Board of Education.

She said that organizers of the Let MI Kids Learn proposal "are trying to use a loophole that allows them to ram it through the Michigan Legislature without being subject to a gubernatorial veto."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer already vetoed GOP-backed bills last November that mirrored the Let MI Kids Learn proposal.

But in Michigan, organizers of voter-initiated legislation can circumvent the governor's veto by collecting at least 8% of the total votes cast for gubernatorial candidates in the most recent election.

Michigan stands out nationally in allowing lawmakers to enact legislation not subject to the governor's veto or approval in a statewide election.

If passed, the Let MI Kids Learn proposal could face legal challenges since Michigan's constitution contains a broad prohibition on public funding for private education. It states that "no public monies or property" can "aid or maintain" private schools, including direct and indirect funding through tax benefits among other forms of financial support.

Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and members of her family have contributed more than $4 million to the Let MI Kids Learn campaign.

DeVos joined former Vice President Mike Pence to tout the proposal at a private Christian school in Rochester Hills in May.

The pair told an assembly of several hundred students at Lutheran High School Northwest that the Let MI Kids Learn initiative petitions would allow more Michigan students to attend a school like theirs.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen. Chalkbeat Detroit contributed.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DeVos-backed education initiative submits signatures