Janise Robinson is, first and foremost, a teacher.
She has taught special education in her home of Taylor, Michigan, for 29 years. She has also served as a consultant to other Michigan public schools. But now, she’s running for a seat in Michigan’s State House of Representatives, to serve its 28th district.
Robinson, a Democrat, is vying to replace Republican incumbent Jamie Thompson. (Thompson must also best Beth Socia – a nurse’s assistant and law enforcement vet – in an August primary.) The district is seen as flip-able – in 2022, Thompson won by just 735 votes, with over 37,000 ballots cast in all. “It’s a real opportunity, a definite chance for us to pick up a seat and increase the [current Democratic] majority,” Robinson says. To bolster her claim, she’s secured endorsements from the likes of Emily’s List and the Climate Cabinet and Vote Mama PACs.
Her decision to run came out of her experiences as an educator – seeing firsthand the ways in which local leadership had fallen short in its efforts to support teachers such as herself. Indeed, Michigan falls behind most other states in terms of teacher’s salaries, and its education system ranks 41st overall in the U.S.
Yet she admits that the daunting nature of the path ahead weighs on her – especially in such a heated and divided national climate. “I hope it doesn’t get nasty. Everyone’s so angry – I hope we can work together,” she says.
The tenor of electoral discourse nearly put her off running, she says. But Robinson, ever an educator, considered the lesson she’d be imparting upon her 16-year-old daughter if she declined to run. “I thought: ‘What am I showing her?’ I’m showing her I can be intimidated. That people who are louder and meaner can stop good people from wanting to serve the community.”
And that wasn’t the lesson she wanted her daughter to take away. Robinson added: “We have to do what’s right – to get out there and try to get people in office” who will serve the public. So, on Leap Day 2024, she launched her campaign to become one such elected official.
Life Lessons
Robinson was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, graduating from its (now closed) John F. Kennedy High School. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1994, then a graduate degree from the same school in 1996, before beginning her career as an educator.
But life began teaching her lessons well before that. When her father was 24 years old – and Robinson was in utero – he suffered a devastating fall while working as a window cleaner. He was partially paralyzed from the waist down by the accident, and was told that he’d never again walk or father any more children. He remained in the hospital for 10 months, she says.
Her mother took on secretarial work to supplement the family income, despite being pregnant, and petitioned those in office at the time for some sort of aid – a part of the story that taught Robinson that public servants are there to serve the public. Her father, meanwhile, was determined to find a way forward. She says of his outlook: “He was like, ‘This is where we’re at, so what can we do to make the best of it?’”
That became a defining ethos of sorts for Robinson. The act of utilizing what’s available to create the best possible outcome is a cornerstone of her work as a special education teacher, she says. But while she’s able to craft solutions for her students, she adds that support for teachers is scarce.
That’s how her journey to prospective elected office began, in fact. She, along with other members of her teachers’ union, tried to engage local legislators on a range of issues, from low salaries and expensive insurance plans to forced classroom assignments for teachers. “I felt like [our government] had done one thing after another to make it harder for teachers to do our jobs, to help our students, to attract and retain teaching staff,” she says.
Engaging elected leaders in pursuit of helping others planted a seed in her – that she could be one such official herself.
The Change She Wants to See
Unsurprisingly, increasing education funding is a significant focus for Robinson’s campaign, money she’d use to support students through care-based efforts like free meals, and to give teachers the resources they need to do their jobs while living comfortably. As she notes, “Our education system is our future – if we want to have citizens that are ready to go out and take over, we have to educate them, and meet their needs.”
She is also a vocal advocate for reproductive freedom – another principle cultivated through personal hardship. “I went through three miscarriages. My first one, I started bleeding when I went for the ultrasound. There was no heartbeat. I fell to the floor, on my knees – I couldn’t even drive home,” she recalled. “The idea that someone in that position” might not get treatment, because “someone is afraid … they might get sued” is unconscionable to her. At present, Michigan permits abortions, without restrictions – she would see it remain that way.
There are other agenda items on Robinson’s list, too – protecting water supplies (part of Michigan’s 28th district borders on Lake Erie), fortifying local infrastructure and supporting workers’ unions throughout the district, to name a few.
The list of goals is admittedly long. But she wants to help, even if it’s hard. She admits she’s hardly seasoned, but she believes she’s proven herself able to do hard things for the right reasons. As Robinson notes: “I am not a politician – just a neighbor.”
