Former Way
land educator and school board member Jeff Salisbury was interviewed today by Michigan Public Radio after submitting the winning question for the network’s contest “MI Curious.”
Salisbury’s entry asked how many of the members of the State Legislature has children who attended K-12 public schools, private schools or were home schooled.
Reporter Mark Brush then conducted a survey of the 110 state representatives and 38 state senators. Brush and Salisbury were interviewed by Cynthia Canty, host of the weekly program “Stateside.”
Salisbury said, “I am not sure where this is all headed – but I am of course going to be the best public school advocate I can be. It seems clear from the data that — as I suspected — all too many state reps and senators have little if any connection to Michigan public schools yet find it oh so easy to pass legislation creating rules and regulations and requirements for public school employees and public school students.
“And fortunately for me, that was made perfectly clear in an MLive article yesterday about State Rep. Tim Kelly from Saginaw who is hoping to pass legislation awarding $5 million for private schools as a reimbursement for state-mandated reports on student health, student or building safety, accountability and education requirements.”
Salisbury’s research found that Kelly is a coach for a Catholic school in the Saginaw area. His children attend Saginaw Nouvel and he is on the board of trustees for the Saginaw County Catholic Schools.
He also refused to participate in the Michigan Public Radio survey.
“Anyway, I am pleased to be interviewed and that MPR took my question more seriously than just some Michigan trivia question.”
The “Stateside” program runs daily at 3 and 10 p.m., and the interview with Salisbury apparently will be aired on Wednesday, April 1, at both times.
Brush also has indicated he is publishing the story of the story and the survey results April 1.
PHOTO: Jeff Salisbury
