Tudor Dixon: Michigan Students Have ‘Low Reading Scores’ Under Whitmer

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon said Michigan students have “incredibly low reading scores,” under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) watch and called the governor out for not opposing sex and gender theories being taught to young children during their first debate on Thursday evening.

Dixon emphasized Whitmer’s school lockdowns’ impact on Michigan’s school-aged children.

“Our schools right now, we’re seeing that we have incredibly low reading scores. We’ve talked about this for years, but after the pandemic and kids been out of school for almost two years, we’ve gone through a crisis and we don’t have an opportunity right now to catch our kids back up,” Dixon said.

The Republican candidate also faulted the governor for being one of the few states not to provide a tutoring plan for children.

“Michigan is one of the only states where the governor didn’t immediately implement a tutoring plan for our students,” Dixon said. “We’ve talked about 25 hours for every child to make sure they get back on track. We need to get our kids back to reading and back to the basics.”

Dixon also called out the sex and gender theories that are making their way through Michigan’s public school system. Dixon advocated for parents to have more say in their child’s education.

“Right now in Michigan schools, as you’re seeing on the news, parents are really concerned about what their kids are being taught with the sex and gender theory and not teaching them to read, write, and do math,” Dixon said. “We’ve made it very clear. We want parents involved in the child’s education.

“And we want to go back to the basics, making sure our kids know how to read, write, and do math. From kindergarten to third grade, they’re learning to read. From third grade on, they’re reading to learn. If they’re missing that crucial step, we’re robbing them,” Dixon added.

In response, Whitmer highlighted her and her family’s attendance at Michigan public schools and blasted Dixon for her support from former President Donald Trump’s former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

“We are making great strides; there’s certainly more work to do, more good work to do,” Whitmer said. “You want to be a top ten state when it comes to literacy, individualized tutors. But I need you to know, this person bankrolling Mrs. Dixon’s campaign is Betsy DeVos. Why is that? Because they want to take half a billion dollars out of our public schools.”

Dixon then criticized Whitmer for staying silent as Michigan schools extended closures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“She says she closed the gap. What she really did was close the schools. And when we talk about making sure there is no wrong path for any child, you should know that when Detroit Public Schools kept their schools closed longer, she was silent,” Dixon said. “When Flint public schools closed their schools down again, Gretchen Whitmer was silent.”

“In fact, in the midst of the pandemic when the legislature said they would give her money for reading scholarships,” Dixon continued. “One of her people came out and said it smelt too much like vouchers because they don’t want parents to have control. She doesn’t want you to have an impact on your child’s education.”

Dixon and Whitmer are scheduled to face off in a second debate later this month on October 25.

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.