ROYAL OAK, MI -- First Lady Jill Biden said making two years of community college free for all students will help the U.S. economy recover and lift up a generation of young Americans.
Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Oakland Community College on Friday for the last stop in a Midwest tour focused on schools returning to in-person learning. The first lady also promoted free community college and pre-kindergarten proposals in the president’s $3.5 trillion economic recovery agenda, which faces key votes in Congres.
Biden, who teaches community college courses in addition to her duties as the first lady, said the administration is doing everything it can to make schools stay safe and remain open.
“Educators, you know, we did our best with virtual learning, but there are some things that you just cannot replicate through a screen,” Biden said. “That’s why I’m so happy to be back in class in person, aren’t you?”
While Michigan schools are taking varying approaches to require masks and encourage vaccinations, an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks has been recorded in the weeks since students came back to class.
Related: Coronavirus data for Friday, Sept. 24: Teens account for largest COVID case increase in Michigan
The Department of Education recommends that schools encourage vaccinations among staff and eligible students, require mask-wearing in settings where everyone is unable to be vaccinated and implement COVID-19 testing. Those recommendations are causing tension in some communities when implemented, despite new outbreaks being discovered in schools.
Can’t see the map? Click here.
The first lady said community colleges offer vital opportunities for people who want to improve their life but can’t attend traditional universities. Community colleges are a cheaper, more flexible alternative, Biden said, and provide access to training for skilled positions in manufacturing and high-tech industries facing labor shortages in Michigan.
“New jobs require new skills, and you see it right here in Michigan,” Biden said. “K-12 education is simply not enough to compete in a 21st-century economy.”
Cardona said the cost of student loans makes universities a “non-starter” for many students, locking them out of the ability to earn more in jobs that require a degree. The education secretary said making community college free helps Black and brown students who can lack access to education and college planning compared to their white peers.
Cardona said America’s future economic prosperity will rely on community colleges.
“We know that when we provide free community college for all, it can serve as a foundation or a country’s growth,” Cardona said. “We must get free community college for every student.”
Cardona follows Michigan native Betsy DeVos in overseeing the Department of Education. DeVos was a vocal proponent of returning to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and opposed mask mandates in schools, saying the decision should be left to parents.
Michigan surpassed 1 million cases of the coronavirus this week. The state is trending below the national average of cases per 100,000 residents but has experienced a 45% increase in new cases during the last two weeks. The weekly average of new cases has steadily increased since July.
Children 10 to 19 years old represent the largest week-over-week increase in cases (27%), as well as the highest average daily case rate per capita (386.7 cases per million people). The outbreaks are partially connected to the return to school in early September.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 228 active school outbreaks this week. New outbreaks were identified in 36 counties.
MDHHS strongly recommends universal masking for students, staff and teachers, but the state has not required them. Instead, the decision has been left to local health departments, resulting in a patchwork of rules across the state.
Related: The great mask debate: Michigan schools stuck between changing guidance, safety and parent opinions
Pamela Pugh, vice president of the Michigan Board of Education and a former public health official in Saginaw County, implored the state to take the lead on mask mandates. Pugh said the lack of a statewide standard is “quite troubling” in a letter to the state health director.
The board of education’s Democratic majority voted in favor of a statement supporting the ability of local school districts to “make scientifically informed decisions including mask mandates.” Republican members failed to gain support for another resolution discouraging schools from requiring masks.
Parents outraged over the mask rules and activists who organized opposition to pandemic health rules during the last year have protested mandates at school board and local government meetings this summer. Critics of mask rules argue they are uncomfortable and cause unnecessary stress for children.
At times, the tensions have boiled over into threats of violence against health officers and public officials.
Schools are set to receive a windfall of federal funding after the passage of pandemic relief. The American Rescue Plan provides more than $130 billion in K-12 emergency relief funds to support the return to in-person learning. Funds can be used to improve ventilation systems, encourage vaccinations, performing testing and contact tracing and address the academic, social, emotional and mental health needs of students.
Forty-two percent of Michigan’s 16 to 19-year-olds are fully immunized as of Tuesday, Sept. 14. Just under 35% of kids between the ages of 12-15 completed vaccination. Vaccines have not been approved for students under the age of 12.
Oakland County, the site of Friday’s visit, is among the highest vaccination rates in the state, with 68% of residents fully immunized. The rate is 83% for people 65 and older and 55% for people younger than 20.
The Republican National Committee criticized the Biden administration’s approach to COVID-19 guidance in a statement.
“After siding with the teachers union to keep schools closed and using kids to distract Americans from the Biden administration’s ongoing crises, Michiganders won’t give Jill Biden and Miguel Cardona a hall pass for being a month too late to welcome their children back to school,” RNC spokesperson Preya Samsundar said in a statement.
The “Return to School Road Trip” started this week and featured Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The Department of Education also held four events across Michigan.
For more statewide data, visit MLive’s coronavirus data page, here. To find a testing site near you, check out the state’s online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
READ MORE ON MLIVE:
Michigan hospitals weigh vaccine mandates against staffing shortages as COVID cases rise
Were the COVID-19 vaccines developed too fast? What about long term effects? Doctors weigh-in
CDC endorses booster shots for older Americans, people with underlying conditions, at-risk workers
Michigan’s COVID breakthrough case numbers don’t tell the whole story: 7 things to know