Dixon hammers Whitmer on education in Michigan gubernatorial debate

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faced off against Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in Tuesday night's gubernatorial debate.

Education issues featured prominently in the debate. Moderators questioned Dixon on her proposal to boost public school quality and impose oversight over state officials responsible for the school system. The Republican highlighted the drop in test scores for reading and math before insisting that the state had to catch up its students from the learning loss caused by long term closures during the pandemic. She then proposed a large-scale tutoring effort to catch students up on the state curriculum.

Whitmer then touted a "bipartisan" education overhaul to support teachers by shrinking class sizes and hiring tutors and literacy coaches, but asserted that the pandemic had presented "historic challenges." She also contended that she only closed schools for "three months," which Dixon adamantly disputed.

The conversation then pivoted to gun control. Whitmer touted her support for secure storage laws before asserting that Dixon "supports more guns in school" and said her plans are "downright dangerous." Dixon highlighted her four children in public schools as her motivation for addressing school shootings. She then referenced a police-developed plan that called for armed security in public schools, single points of entry, and mental health support.

"If we had implemented the 2018 report from state police, we might have saved lives," Dixon insisted. Whitmer retorted that it was time for "proven policies" before deriding Dixon's "thoughts and prayers," a pejorative reference to the well wishes often offered to the victims and their families following a tragic event, which left-wing figures have maligned as a meaningless condolence in lieu of gun control reforms.

Moderators then asked about social issues in schools. Dixon highlighted parental concerns about inappropriate content in school libraries, specifically highlighting sexual material. She insisted that schools were featuring books that taught children "how to have sex" rather than help students develop themselves.

Whitmer, in turn, pointed to local level mechanisms for parental input into the school curriculum such as school board meetings but lamented the efforts of "politicians" to divide communities on educational issues. "She is not going to stand with parents on this issue," Dixon said following Whitmer's response.

The governor repeatedly pointed to Dixon's support from former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and highlighted her opponents backing of educational reforms she endorsed.

Though formerly considered a longshot, Dixon has overcome a considerable polling deficit to tie the race with the governor. The RealClearPolitics polling average currently assigns Whitmer a 3.2% lead but projects a Dixon victory.