Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hosted a virtual event with parents in Michigan to kick off the Let MI Kids Learn petition drive Wednesday morning.
The virtual kick-off event included a discussion about the importance of open schools and “the damage caused to students by long-term learning.
The ballot drive aims to let students attend private schools and pay other educational expenses with accounts funded by tax-free corporate and individual donations.
Critics of the proposed scholarship funds compare them to vouchers and claim they would be unconstitutional due to a ban against public assistance for nonpublic schools.
DeVos argues it would give all kids access to quality education.
The DeVos family has donated $400,000 to the ballot drive.
The petition drive would need about 340,000 signatures to send the initiatives to the Legislature.
The measures could be enacted into law by lawmakers despite Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s previous veto of identical bills.