Gov. Snyder praises Stockbridge Schools and Superintendent Heidrich while unveiling $100 million ‘Marshall Plan for Talent’

When Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled the $100 million ‘Marshall Plan for Talent’ on Feb. 21, he praised 11 schools and administrators in Michigan as “already leading the way.” Stockbridge schools rank among fewer than a dozen trailblazers recognized for making strides in pursuit of this strategy. Photo credit: Crain’s Detroit.

By Patrice Johnson

When Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled the $100 million ‘Marshall Plan for Talent’ on Feb. 21, he praised 11 schools and administrators in Michigan as “already leading the way.” A sparse list of predictably large and affluent schools dotted a PowerPoint slide. But among the planetary giants, a small, rural school system held sway. Orbiting on the same plane as Oakland, Grand Haven and Kent was “Stockbridge Community Schools, Superintendent Karl Heidrich.”

The governor described the ‘Marshall Plan for Talent,’ a reference to post-World War II efforts to rebuild Western Europe, as a revolutionary partnership among educators, employers and other stakeholders. If approved by the legislature, Snyder said the plan would “transform Michigan’s talent pipeline and redesign the ways we invest, develop and attract talent in our state.” The plan proposes a variety of student scholarships, transportation or childcare stipends, teacher incentives and school-business collaborations.

Snyder explained that employers look for a talented workforce when choosing places to grow and locate. Once companies locate to Michigan, their presence, in turn, triggers a cycle of more and better jobs. He said the Great Lakes State is facing a talent shortage across multiple industries, and this shortage is “the single greatest threat to the state’s continued economic recovery.”

The governor’s TED talk predicted more than 811,000 openings through 2024 in fields facing current and future talent shortages. These high-skill, high-salary and high-tech careers offer average salaries in excess of $60,000 a year, he said, and include information technology and computer science, healthcare, manufacturing and other professional trades and business careers. As importantly, jobs in these areas are obtainable through a variety of pathways, from certificates to four-year degrees.

Stockbridge schools rank among fewer than a dozen trailblazers recognized for making strides in pursuit of this strategy.

According to a Feb. 22 article in the Detroit News, the plan proposes a “one-time transfer from a scholarship reserve fund Snyder says has an excess balance due to refinancing. The state would use the funding to launch the talent initiative as a five-year pilot project.”

With Stockbridge Community Schools pioneering a course through uncharted space, it may indeed help transform Michigan’s talent pipeline. But if so, the benefit is likely to accrue from the school’s single-minded focus on opening doors for its students and providing them with the tools and self-confidence they need to make inspired career choices.

As Karl Heidrich writes in this month’s ‘From the Superintendent’s Desk’ column, “Our goal is to safeguard that as our students graduate, they are well prepared to pursue their dreams.”

For more information check out: https://www.michigan.gov/ted/.