“Clearly, what we are doing is not working,” said state Rep. Bill Schuette, a Republican from Gladwin County…

“You look across the country, we are one of the only states that has a so-called independent head of its education department, and I believe that this, in practice, has removed an important element of accountability from our state’s public education system,” Schuette added.

Interesting point, but weirdly made, since the goal of the Republicans is to put more power in the hands of a single government head. There’s no way that dissonance is caused by hypocrisy, right?

The state board’s power has been reduced significantly over the years, particularly under the initiatives of former Gov. John Engler, a Republican who transferred a number of the board’s responsibilities to the state superintendent.

Ah, so it’s the classic Republican playbook of breaking the government, blaming the system for being broken, and using it as an excuse to break it further. Of course.