Pence Stumps with DeVos in Michigan for Tax-Credit Scholarship Initiative

Former Vice President Mike Pence joined former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at an assembly at a Lutheran high school in Rochester, Michigan, to endorse the Let MI Kids Learn proposal, reported The Detroit Free Press.

The Let MI Kids Learn proposal would create the Opportunity Scholarship program, providing vouchers of up to $7,830 a year to pay for private school tuition for students from families whose income does not exceed twice the threshold for free and reduced-price lunch programs, according to Chalkbeat. In addition, all public school students would receive up to $500, while public school students with disabilities could receive up to $1,100, according to Michigan Live. The vouchers are funded by taxpayer donations, and the legislation allows up to $500 million in tax credits in the program’s first year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Some children in this state are trapped in failing schools," Pence told the students, reported the Free Press. "Some children go to schools that are plagued by violence. Some students who want to learn just math and science and history often endure political indoctrination in the midst of those lessons. And it's not their fault, it's the government's fault."

Several hundred students attended the assembly. Pence’s speech garnered a standing ovation, reported the Free Press.

- S.E. Abrams