That HAS been the educational system within Michigan. Michigan has a very long history of incubating some of the most successful people on Wall Street. Michigan? Yes, Michigan.
There is no discrimination in Michigan, the list of famous people spans the USA economy from a USA President to the star studded stage and onto NASCAR. (click here). Among the most prolific incubators for the entertainment industry is Detroit. There is a reason why there have been so many stages in Detroit.
The performance industry wasn't just populous talent. This is Jay Meetze of Flint a producer and composer of opera. So the talent and BRAIN TRUST RESOURCES the people of Michigan have walking among them is considerable. The home grown resources found opportunity in both genders even among the sciences. Emily Helen Butterfield from Algonac, Michigan pioneered the Michigan Women's Movement in the late 1800s. But, that isn't her only contribution.She founded the first women's business club in the entire country of the USA. It was the Detroit Business Women's Club. So, what was her business? I wouldn't really call it a business exactly.
Ms. Butterfield (I am sure she would approve of the Ms.) was educated in the Detroit Public Schools. She and her father loved art and she sketched nature and landscapes in her teenage years.
That affection for art they shared blossomed into an architectural firm called Butterfield and Butterfield in 1917. But, why would she be involved with an architectural firm, family or not? Why indeed. She became the first woman architect licensed in Michigan in 1907.
Did you notice? She came back to Michigan regardless of her travels to work hand in hand with Dad. A Michigan architectural firm born and breed right in the state.
Architecture is an art and science. Math and science. Engineering. Such a career requires high levels of learning from the beginning of any education including advanced information in High School.
Anyone know the name Charles Moore? This is Charles Moore. He hales from Benton Harbor. He was an architect and what an architect he was. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and winner of the AIA Gold Metal of 1991. Below is a picture of Piazza d'Italia by Charles Moore (with Perez Architects), New Orleans. Now bad for a guy from Michigan. 
The highly COMPETENT education system in Michigan doesn't end the architects. That high competency in math and science belongs to Michael Bloomfield. No, not the mayor of NYC. He is an astronaut that has flown three missions on the Space Shuttle.
Astronaut Bloomfield hales from Flint. But, any state in the nation can have a flash in the pan astronaut, but, how many can claim their fame with a long tradition of influence in aerospace with Roger B.
Roger Chaffee is among the great Americans that advanced the USA Space Program. He died for his country and it's space ambitions along with Gus Grissom and Ed White in a terrible accident within their capsule. Chaffee and Grissom are buried at Arlington National Cemetary and Ed White is buried at West Point Cemetary. The number of astronauts born in Michigan goes on from there. 
John DeLorean was born and breed and educated in Detroit schools. He worked for a while for GM before he founded the DeLorean Motor Company. He was a first generation American born to immigrants. While working within GM his best loved contribution was the highly collectable Pontiac GTO. As a matter of fact John DeLorean was the youngest department head within GM at the Pontiac Division at the age of 40.
The infamous competition that started in Hamtramck, Michigan began with two brothers with the last name of Dodge. Their names were Horace Elgin and John Francis. They were born in Niles, Michigan and went to Detroit to work in a boilermaker plant and then followed that up as machinists for a company in Windsor, Ontario. They were self taught. Now, that is noteworthy of young men who are home spun in Michigan. That only begins the list of those that grew the automobile industry in Michigan. They were all home grown and educated. They did their state proud.
Anyone know the name Ballmer? Steve Ballmer? No? He was the son of two immigrants, Beatrice Dworkin from Belarus, she was Jewish and Fredric Henry Ballmer from Switzerland. Still no clue? Fredric Henry Ballmer was manager of Ford Motor. Still don't know Steve Ballmer? One last clue: He attended college prep and engineering classes at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan and graduated from Detroit Country Day School, a private college preparatory school in Beverly Hills, Michigan, with a perfect score of 800 on the mathematical section of the SAT.
Okay, Steven Ballmer was the first manage hired by Bill Gates at Microsoft. But, that isn't all. He became the defacto number two at Microsoft after 20 years following his hire, and leading several Microsoft divisions, including operations, operating systems development, and sales and support. February 1992 onwards, he was Executive Vice President, Sales and Support, led Microsoft's development of the .NET Framework. Ballmer was then promoted to President of Microsoft, a title that he held from July 1998 to February 2001.
I could go on and on and on, but, what is the point to all this? Michigan is the point to all this. The educational system, it's free form structure allowing artistic development and free thinking is infamous. The Michigan's brain trust and what has been contributed to the USA and the world is rarely discussed. The FAILURE of the Michigan educational system is the only thing talked about today. Somehow the bottom fell out of the magic of Michigan.
Somehow along came Former CEO Snyder and decided he was the savior of Michigan. Snyder hasn't been a savior to anything except perhaps the profiteering of Wall Street. There is NOTHING Snyder has found or perfected or took away from democracy that wasn't already there. The ONLY problem with Michigan is the OUTSOURCING of it's brain trust to every other corner of the USA and the world. Why? Because Michigan, while a magnificent incubator of genius and strong work ethics, has a high quality of life. What does a high quality of life demand? It demands a Middle Class. What does a Middle Class demand? Good pay, disposable income and FREEDOM to spend their monies to continue to grow an economy.
When Roger Smith knew he had to provide high profits to stockholders and outsourced the jobs to other nations he began the unraveling of the economy of Michigan, ultimately the region and contributing to the downward spiral of the Middle Class across the country. But, Ronald Reagan finished off the Middle Class when he fought Airline Controllers in California. The people who actually thought as industry leaders they knew what was best for their company's bottom line, didn't stop to realize where their status came from in the first place. The entire auto industry can and should thank the brain trust of Michigan. Without them it would be nowhere.
The ONLY problem with Michigan is the implosion of it's economy. The educational system is primarily intact except where Snyder have toyed with school systems and towns and cities to incorporate children of many cities into the school system of one. Snyder is the worst thing that has happened to Michigan. He only appreciates it's educational system where it delivers highly talented people that can be EXPLOITED for what they know and what they invent and their desire to be prosperous.
The Governor of Michigan has no answers for the people of Michigan. He has answers for Wall Street. The Tech Sector he brags about existed long before he became Governor. The real question Michiganders have to ask themselves is with all this emphasis on the successful Tech Sector, "Why aren't there more jobs?" That is the only question that has to be answered and the answer is simple. While the Tech Sector is very successful, the companies are sold to Wall Street for profits and finding cheaper labor elsewhere. Sound familiar? Snyder's name may as well be Roger Smith.
There are profound differences between the way industry and government run and why. Industry is built from the ground up. As the demand for it's products takes shape and there is demand, industry grows. Government has nothing in common with business or industry. Government EXISTS. Why does it exist? Did someone invent something and then grew Detroit? Detroit is land. Detroit exists because people came to the land and developed their livelihoods and economy. Governments grow because the people in a city or town increase. There is nothing remotely similar between a business model and a government. Government exists. It can't cut middle management because that middle management runs the trash collection department and the water department. The only way a government shrinks is if the people aren't there on the land anymore. And with Detroit we realized even if the government shrinks there is still a need for it to operate in someway. Detroit lost it's tax base because the economy collapsed. People didn't have jobs. The jobs that remained still has a viable existence and the people living there still needed a government. The people didn't do anything wrong in Detroit. The larger government didn't stem the economics loss.
Detroit and Benton Harbor as well as Flint and the rest of the cities are not at fault. If there was corruption that is a completely different issue. Corrupt government needs to be prosecuted.
Wall Street failed for a long time and continues to fail the Michigan economy. I don't know why Michigan hasn't recovered, but, it seems to me the Michigan Brain Trust is a well kept secret for a reason. The problem is, do the people of Michigan believe there should be ways to promote the industries created in Michigan or can Wall Street exploit them so much better?
Why not simply build the story of all stories (political narrative) to move people and governments around and allow exploitation of Michigan's land in a way Snyder and his buddies believe is best?
There is a challenge before the Mayors of Michigan. They need to recruit these home grown companies into their towns. That means the people that will work for them have a strong work ethnic and are 'educated enough' to create their product.
Mayors have nothing to lose.
If there is no Michigan Brain Trust Techy Industry in their town there is nothing going into the treasury anyway. If a Michigan Brain Trust Techy Industry comes to make a Michigan city or town their home, then people work, they buy homes and they pay property tax. The Mayors of Michigan can do this. There is no reason for them not to. If I were a Mayor of Michigan I'd want a conference of Mayors and invite the Chancellors of the major universities and ask how this can work out to the benefit the people, hence, their towns, counties and ultimately the state.
Snyder is not providing good leadership, he is providing the leadership he is only capable of; namely that of a Venture Capitalist. That isn't going to put people to work and will exploit natural resources rather than pursuing high tech resolves as better and more attainable. It is up to the people of Michigan to fire Governor Snyder and put someone in office that will provide SUPPORT to Mayors to bring home their home grown brain trust so people have jobs and those companies have profits.
