Dear State Superintendent Maleyko,  

Welcome to your new position! In October, you will embark in the most important and influential role as the next Michigan State Superintendent of Schools. You are taking the reins of Michigan’s public education system at a critical time where we are academically falling behind most states despite making major investments in our education system.  You have an opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of the children, families and businesses that are counting on our schools to prepare our kids for their future and to rebound from their falling performance.

We are two individuals who took very divergent paths to serve in the past in the same critical state superintendent role you are about to begin. We respectfully offer the following thoughts, suggestions and recommendations.

Sheila A. Alles and Tom Watkins headshots.
Sheila A. Alles has been in public education for 47 years, including five years at the Michigan Department of Education as the chief deputy superintendent and interim state superintendent of schools. Tom Watkins was state superintendent of schools (2001-2005), state mental health director (1986-1990) and former Gov. James Blanchard’s first deputy chief of staff.

We have 1.4 million K-12 students to educate and an annual budget of $82.5 billion (local, state and federal funds). Our current operational structure does not meet the academic needs of our children and is an economic anchor on our state. No one supports our current education system, yet we continue to prop it up.

Report after report has indicated that Michigan’s education system is in need of systematic and systemic changes. The recent University of Michigan study, “K-12 Education Governance in Michigan,” recommends we need better alignment among the governor’s office, the state board of education, the MDE, and the legislature to provide clear, coordinated leadership across Michigan’s education system.

Numerous articles report problems with our educational system including the most recent series on Michigan education in Bridge in July 2025, and national data reflects the dire state of student achievement in Michigan as compared to our other states as chronicled in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s “2025 Kids Count Data Book.”

To be clear, you are not solely in charge. You do not have the power to make all the necessary changes. But you will have a forum to advocate for proven data driven changes. Michigan’s system of education is in need of significant change and you will have a bully pulpit to advocate for how our system should work best for our kids. 

As our state’s new education leader, we want you to succeed. Here are some tips.  

Be bold. Ask yourself, what values do you feel so strongly about that you are willing to go against the grain? Our children need you to be passionate and laser-focused on doing all you can do to help our teachers teach and our students learn.

Listen to everyone. Listen to teachers, support personnel, teacher unions, parents, students, the business, education and community leaders and the other vital constituents dependent on our schools.

Develop connections. Build the necessary relationships with the political, union, business, education and community leaders to help advance an aligned educational agenda. You can’t and won’t do it alone. 

Rely on research and data. Review the structures, practices and policies that currently exist in states that are highly functional with high-performing student outcomes. Compare those elements to Michigan’s current education system, identify the similarities and differences, recognize the changes that need to be made to more align our education system to those states and create a plan to implement them. 

Improve student achievement. Under your leadership, the Dearborn City Public Schools has increased the number of students proficient on the M-STEP during the past three years. Please bring the strategies, interventions and learnings that led to this improvement to the state level.

Our substantive recommendations include:

  • Expand universal preschool to include 3 year olds.
  • Enhance accountability and make the ISD/RESA superintendents accountable to the state superintendent.
  • Use technology and AI to accelerate learning to help eliminate the learning gaps that exist as a result of the pandemic.
  • Add media literacy to content-area standards so students can be intelligent consumers of “news.”
  • Replace snow days with online teaching days because students need more days of school, not fewer.
  • Shift the focus of MDE’s work from mainly compliance to collaboration, communication and service.
  • Restructure the senior year of high school to provide learning, working and exploring options for students outside the four walls of the high school.
  • Increase the number of adults with post-secondary degrees.
  • Grant the state superintendent the authority to require consistent, high quality professional learning for all local educators. 

And be aware of ideologues and anti-government profiteers who have plans now to further privatize our schools with more charter schools even though charter schools have not improved their performance over public education.

You may well be the last chance to save public education in Michigan. So, please act as if our collective future is dependent on your actions. It is. 

Warm regards, Sheila A. Alles and Tom Watkins

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