JACKSON, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited Hunt Elementary in Jackson this week to promote “March is Reading Month.”

The Governor’s visit comes as Michigan students continue to recover from large learning gaps that come, in part, from her stringent COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021 that closed schools.

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A national report released in January by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University found Michigan students lost 44% of a grade equivalent in average reading scores between 2019 and 2023.

In addition, Michigan students lost 44% of a grade equivalent in average math scores in the same time period.