Michigan candidates talk education during forum

MARQUETTE — Michigan candidates took the hot seat last last night during the Upper Peninsula Children’s Coalition and American Association of University Women’s Candidate Forum. Fourteen candidates were invited. All seven invited Democrats showed up, but only one Republican, Pete Mackin, showed up.

With seats left empty, those in attendance talked freely about their plan for Michigan’s future when it comes to poverty, children and education.

“One in five kids live in poverty, the thing we need to do right now is focus on education, put funding back in education, add technical and vocational education so we can get competitive in the job market,” said Christopher Germain, 38th Senate District candidate.

Incumbent, Scott Dianda, 110th House District candidate had this to say, “Our future lies in our children and we have to make sure we have the best K-12 education and make sure we start looking outside the box and look at vocational training,”

“As the states economy turns around and it is doing so, we need to return the dollars from where we took them, including education,” said Jon Kivela, 109th House District candidate.

“We need to prioritize education funding, work on increasing our focus on education funding and make sure the teachers have the resources available to them to pass on and that they have the best education possible,” said Grant Carlson, 108th House District candidate.

Jerry Cannon concluded by saying “We need to make sure that we create opportunities for our young people, not just economic opportunities but educational opportunities so if they choose to stay in the district, they can stay here.”

You can watch the full candidate’s forum on Charter. Airtimes are as follows:

Sault Ste. Marie:

Tuesday October 21, at 1:00PM and Monday November 3, at 1:00 PM

Escanaba :

Thursday October 23 at 2:00 PM and Monday November 3, at 1:00 PM

Marquette:

Friday, October 24 at 6:00 PM – Tuesday, October 28 at 6:00 PM   and on Monday November 3 at 5:00 PM

Houghton’s airing is pending at this time.