Mac & Cheese and the Fight for Literacy
A future where every kid can read is more than a cheesy idea
There’s something deeply American about mac and cheese. It’s comfort. It’s family. It’s the thing you make when you want everyone around the table to feel safe and cared for. (My full recipe is below.)
That’s exactly the feeling I want for every kid sitting in a classroom in this country. Safe. Cared for. Set up to succeed.
Right now, that’s not the reality for millions of children — and nowhere is that clearer than in Michigan, where kids rank 44th in the nation for 4th grade reading. Not because the kids aren’t capable. Not because the teachers aren’t trying. But because for decades, the system failed to give either of them the tools they needed.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has spent her time in office trying to fix that. She signed a landmark Science of Reading bill into law, requiring schools to use proven, phonics-based instruction. She passed the largest education budget in Michigan history. She funded literacy coaches, early childhood programs, free meals, and teacher training. She called literacy her number one education priority for her final year in office — and she meant it.
But progress like this doesn’t go unchallenged.
The DeVos family has spent over $350 million in the last decade pushing school voucher schemes that redirect public school funding to private institutions — recovering an estimated $3.5 billion in taxpayer money along the way. Their reach extends well beyond Michigan, into smaller states where they believe they can win quietly. This isn’t just a Michigan story. It’s a national one. And it’s a reminder that the fight for public education never really ends.
What Whitmer is doing matters. What’s being done to undermine it matters more than most people realize.
So today, I’m making mac and cheese — because feeding our families and educating our children are the same act of love, just in different rooms. And both are worth protecting.
Slade’s Mac & Cheese
Serves 8 | Prep: 20 min | Bake: 15 min
For the Mac & Cheese:
½ cup butter
¾ cup flour
1 qt whole milk
12 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz Gouda cheese, grated
1 tsp dry mustard | 1 tsp ground white pepper
½ tsp ground turmeric | ½ tsp salt | ½ tsp black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
1 lb corkscrew pasta, uncooked
For the Topping:
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan
¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 tbsp butter, melted | Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook pasta until done. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 425°F.
In the same pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk, one cup at a time, whisking until smooth and creamy.
Add all spices and whisk to combine. Add cheeses and whisk until smooth.
Turn off heat. Fold in pasta until evenly coated.
Pour into a baking dish and level the surface.
Mix topping ingredients together and spread evenly over pasta.
Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Enjoy — and hug a teacher while you’re at it.
Why does every post of yours make me cry?
As a “retirement career,” my mother volunteered and taught ESL classes to adult immigrants. She was never so happy. She loved every single one of her students and helped along the path to citizenship. She worked with a nun, Sister Joyce, who had taught in Catholic schools. Sister Joyce argued vehemently against the school voucher programs every time they came up. She felt they were the ultimate expression of selfishness and greed. She said taking money out of public education was failing to care of other people who may not look or act like you, or even agree with you, which is a moral failure.