The Skillman Foundation

Shots fired in high school classrooms. Zinging across a packed college campus. Fired in the dark of night from a car. Cracking into the peaceful realm of a home. While praying. While watching a movie. While walking between classes. Leaving a party.

With every awful, violent act that harms or takes a human life, there are hundreds to thousands who bear witness. Who carry unseen scars. Who now hold open chasms of howling grief inside of them.

At The Skillman Foundation, our focus is education systems change. We tackle the entrenched levers of an education system because once pulled, once reset, once unlocked—resources and practice flow differently and the ability to help young people everywhere, especially in our city and state, increases exponentially.

What does education have to do with the shocking rise of violence we are experiencing—political or otherwise?

Everything.

Public schools are our first safe spaces to experience difference. To explore new ideas, to break bread with each other, to fall down on the playground, to feel hurt, and to find people outside of our family, outside of our circle, to comfort us, pick us up, and get us back on the path of recovery.

In schools, we learn to calculate equations and to mediate conflict. By the very nature of so much variety latent in a public school education—you get the benefit of interacting with those of different backgrounds, socioeconomic status, and heritage; and in doing so we learn how to find common ground. When our teachers are empowered to teach not only the basics, but to build on the basics to teach critical thinking, civics, debate, and to do it in customized ways for each learner—we have the building blocks of yes, a curriculum, but most importantly of a civil society.

I recently read that the opposite of ‘triggers’ is ‘glimmers’. Rather than ideas that instantly divide, glimmers are positive sparks that happen throughout the day that bring joy, peace, calm, and happiness.

Below are some glimmers floating up into the skies above the fall-kissed trees here in Michigan:

• Michigan bipartisanship for the win. While late, our state budget has passed. Mind you, this happened while, on a national level, the federal government shutdown continues. Were there theatrics? Of course, there is no politics without theater. But in the end, was there compromise? Yes.
• Public education investment increased. At a time when there are attempts to privatize public education, Michigan stood up across the board for our young people. Knowing that 9 out of 10 Michigan children are enrolled in public schools, we now have the largest investment in per pupil student allowance—over $10,000—in our history.
• Students who need more will continue to get more. Our innovative weighted funding formula, known as the Opportunity Index, is receiving a 25% increase totaling over $250 million. This sends more dollars to districts with high poverty, students with special needs, and English language learners. Evidence shows that these resources drive results.
• Mishigas stayed clear of Michigan. For those unfamiliar, mishigas is a Yiddish term for nonsense. Michigan kept culture wars out of the classroom and sidestepped heavy-handed mandates to punish schools for celebrating difference, teaching history in its entirety, or ensuring access to sports for all who are interested.

For a full real-deal analysis, read this blog written from the desk of our Policy & Systems Director, Jen DeNeal.

What is the antidote to violence? Exposure, empathy, civility, forgiveness, compassion, and learning about life, history, and ways of being an American amongst varied Americans. Thank you, Michigan, for continuing to invest in our children, our public schools, and our future.

— Angelique