Thank you to Tom McMillin for providing a written response to our questionnaire to help parents and citizens vett the candidates for State Board of Education (SBE). The responses of other candidates will be published as they become available. PLEASE NOTE: Stop Common Core in Michigan does NOT endorse candidates.
Tom McMillin State Board of Education Candidate Questionnaire Answers
1. Many parents complain that the members of the State Board of Education are not accessible to them. How do you propose to remain accessible to parents and citizens if elected?
ANSWER: I will have an easy-to-find website, where I’ll let citizens know what is happening at the SBE, what issues are coming up at the SBE, my thoughts and ways to interact with me – via comments and a simple way to contact me privately. I’ll also have a Facebook page and interact there. I’ll be available after each SBE board meeting, too. I’ll also travel the state at gatherings of citizens and be easily available and post my schedule so citizens know where to find me. As a state representative, I was known as one of the few who, during all six years, held monthly open meetings with constituents (even when liberals showed up with cameras to harass me).
2. Have you been endorsed or received funding from special interests or lobby groups such as GLEP?
ANSWER: Not for State Board of Ed. They supported me in the past for state rep, when their focus was on giving options for parents whose children are in failing schools, before they were pushing Common Core. Obviously, when I was in the legislature, I was the leading opponent of Common Core and related data collection and high stakes testing.
3. Governor Snyder articulated a vision for Michigan education that is no longer K12 but from P-20 from “Prenatal to life-long learning.” Do you support a P20 vision for education in Michigan?
ANSWER: Not at all. The government has no business trying to educate “prenatal” or before birth…though, I am glad to see the implication being made that while in the womb, a baby is a person. This P-20 vision further exposes many in government who want “cradle-to-grave” oversight.
4. Do you support adoption of the LGBTQ guidelines as provided by the MDE?
ANSWER: I strongly oppose it. During the MDE comment period, I submitted my comments and made my opposition clear to MDE. This is a prime example of the Left pressing to have its ideology taught in public schools, and following “guidelines” would likely come force. And if the federal government tries to tie this agenda to funding, we need to go toe to toe with them in court.
5. In December of 2015, the State Board of Education adopted a set of seven goals for Michigan “Making Michigan A Top Ten State in Ten Years.” According to State Superintendent Brian Whiston, these goals are the motivation for the LGBTQ guidelines and many other controversial reforms related to workforce development/competency-based education. Do you support the goals articulated in their initiative, “Making Michigan a Top Ten State in Ten Years?” (https://stopcommoncoreinmichigan.com/2016/05/goal-political-agenda-michigan-
top- 10-10-years/)
ANSWER: No. No to this “transgender agenda”, no to P-20, and no, the state is not a “partner” in raising children, among other problems with this initiative. I will fight it. The best way to become a Top Ten state would be to eliminate Common Core and return as much authority to the local level. Centralization of education is one of the main problems. Top down “reforms” only harm education.
6. Do you support Governor Snyder’s creation of the 21st Century Education Commission?
ANSWER: No. The goal of this commission appears to be to have our schools create workers for projected needs by society. The goal of education in our country for centuries, the right one, was to help create an educated American citizen, grounded in American principles, who was taught a well-rounded curriculum that he could apply to any opportunity in his lifetime.
7. The Michigan State Board of Education is considering the adoption of new social studies standards. Do you support the C3 Framework for Social Studies or any set of “Michigan standards” using the C3 Framework as the foundation?
ANSWER: No. I have a long history of fighting these centralizing schemes. I led the legislative effort to fight Common Core and national Next Generation Science Standards. This is just the next effort by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), that was a principal leader for Common Core, to now fold in Social Studies standards.
8. Do you support a parents right to opt-out of an assignment, survey, assessment, or data collection which the parents deem inappropriate or a violation of their privacy?
ANSWER: Definitely. I sponsored and co-sponsored legislation to support parents’ rights and student privacy on all these issues. I was on a national NPR segment discussing my opposition to the data collection elements of the federally-funded Smarter Balanced testing
9. In April, a bill to repeal and replace Common Core, science, social studies, and aligned assessments was introduced into the Michigan House (HB 5444) and Senate (SB 826). Do you support HB 5444/SB 826 as introduced and passed out of the Senate Education Committee.
ANSWER: Yes. As a state representative, I led the effort to get Michigan out of Common Core and get us out of Common Core aligned testing. I also led the effort to get us out of the national Next Generation Science Standards.
Additional comments:
10. I hope, when evaluating candidates for the upcoming state convention, those voting will see that I have walked the walk. I have a very long history of fighting for our values of local control, parental rights, homeschooling rights, and parental choice. I have a long history of standing up to overbearing bureaucrats and challenging their false assumptions. I have spoken regularly in local, state, and national media, in strong opposition to issues like Common Core, nationalized science standards, nationalized testing, and student data collection and championing parental rights, parental choice and local control. I debated SBE President John Austin for an hour, in studio on MI NPR Radio over Common Core. I was board president of a charter school. I was always one of the top conservatives in the legislature and was the leader in transparency of government spending. Please visit my website at www.tom4sbe.com for more information.