Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer made clear his intentions to improve the budget situation for both primary and higher education and discussed his campaign strategies for the upcoming 2014 race in a Tuesday press conference.
Schauer, who visited Riddle Elementary School in Lansing to celebrate an endorsement from the Michigan Education Association, is the Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. The MSU alumnus previously served in the Michigan House and Senate and was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing his seat in 2010.
Schauer said he plans to make Michigan schools a better learning environment overall and said it’s important to restore funding for higher education as well as K-12 schools.
“Higher education was cut by half a billion dollars under Snyder,” Schauer said. “For Michigan to be competitive, we need to be the smart state — the leading reason why college student drop out of college is that they can’t afford it. While I was in Congress, I worked on measures to limit the amount of money students would have to pay back on student loans as a portion of their income. For us to be that smart state, our universities and community colleges have to be affordable, and they’re not.”
Schauer attributes much of his knowledge about education to his work on campus while completing his master’s degree in political science at MSU.
“When I was in my graduate program at MSU, I was a research assistant in the political science department,” Schauer said. “I was working on a national education reform study. I had a chance to look at education around the country as part of my academic work, and that’s part of the basis for my views on public education today.”
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