Levin proud to receive public education award

By Lisa Brody

Congressman Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township) was unanimously voted the 2021 Champion for Public Education Award from the K-12 Alliance of Michigan during its Advocacy Week, and he said he is extremely proud to have received the award.

Levin is a member of the House Education and Labor Committee and member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

“My first thought on accepting this award? I miss my mom. She would be so proud,” Levin said. “She was such a champion for public education and for addressing children’s mental health issues. The pandemic has shown more clearly than ever the need for students to have a healthy, safe space to learn and for teachers to be valued as the essential public servants they are. Throughout this year I have worked to continue my mother’s legacy and offer solutions to the long-existing inequality in our education system. We need to meet these challenges head on with investments in our schools like those proposed by President Biden in the American Families Plan.

“The K-12 Alliance is an indispensable leader and advocate for expanding access to quality education and opportunities to succeed in and outside of the classroom to every child in Michigan. I'm really moved by this honor and inspired to do even more work in the years ahead: to continue our progress and fight for full Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding, to deal with learning loss and testing requirements and so much more.”

Robert McCann, executive director, K-12 Alliance of Michigan, said, “Every year we give out a Champion for Students Award to an elected official that has gone above and beyond to work with us on behalf of Michigan students. The Congressman and his staff have been wonderful to work with over the last year, organizing frequent meetings with superintendents and advocating tirelessly for Michigan schools in Washington. Our members very much appreciate his dedicated leadership and look forward to our continued partnership.”