University students and faculty gathered over the past few days to discuss the current state of America’s public schools as part of the two-day Annual Jack L. Walker Conference.

The event, called “Educational Inequality in Michigan – An Inequality of Opportunities,” began with a panel discussion featuring guest speakers and University professors on Wednesday, and Democratic Lt. Gov. John Cherry gave a speech on the state’s education system yesterday.

Named in honor of the late University professor Jack L. Walker, who was instrumental in creating the annual forum on campus to discuss issues regarding education, the event touched on a wide variety of topics, from adolescent literacy to higher education financing.

Presentations and discussions extended beyond issues within the state to those at the national level as well.

Cherry spoke on the second day of the conference in the Business School’s Blau Auditorium about changing the state’s funding structure to increase the possibility of post-secondary education for Michigan residents. He stressed the value of preparing students at a young age to embark on a post-secondary education.

“It’s not good enough that every child has access to a free and public education, a K-12 education,” Cherry said. “A K-12 education must assure that every graduate is prepared and ready for a post-secondary experience.”

Cherry also repeatedly stressed adjusting the state’s education system to help make innovations that will change the state’s economy.

“For our economy to flourish, our wealth must be based on manufacturing processes that are fed in part by sophisticated technology that we excel in creating and operating,” Cherry said. “Our economic success will be directly proportional to the extent that we can shift from leveraging our muscles to leveraging our minds.”

The state’s current educational funding is not only too minimal, but outdated as well, Cherry said. State officials are seeing the same results from the funding they would’ve expected to see years ago, instead of the product they would expect in the 21st century, Cherry said.

In 2004, at Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s request, the Cherry Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth was launched. The commission has laid out “recommendations” for educational improvement ranging from professional development for teachers to incorporating entrepreneurial skills into the K-12 curriculum.

Cherry said officials may need to make changes on the current public school post-secondary curriculum, which places an emphasis on obtaining a college education because it raises the question of how that education applies to students who wish to transition straight from high school to full-time work.

He added that the vastly different skill sets that used to be required to pursue these pathways are now becoming increasingly similar.

“The clear division between vocational and college prep is quickly disappearing,” Cherry said.

On the first day of the conference, University professors Maris Vinovskis, Elizabeth Moje, Brian McCall and Greg Markus spoke in the School of Public Policy’s Annenberg Auditorium.

Vinovskis, a Public Policy and history professor, spoke about national education policies, saying that many of the programs dedicated to improving education in the country don’t receive the attention they require to be successful.

He added that in recent years, the government has tended to exaggerate the efficacy of these policies.

“We have a long history of promises unfulfilled in American development,” he said.

Moje, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor in the School of Education, discussed some of the findings of her ongoing research project, which is devoted to studying adolescent literacy in the United States.