Solutions to help solve Michigan’s education crisis

As Michigan and other states work toward recovering from the pandemic economically, there continues to be a major e ort needed to recover educationally, as well.

Recent data demonstrates the state’s educational performance fell farther and faster in key subjects during the pandemic than many states did that were better positioned systemically before the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, Michigan was one of only 18 states performing worse in early literacy than it was in the early 2000s on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In fact, between 2003 and 2019, Michigan’s fourth grade reading scores had fallen by approximately one half of a point, while the national average increased by three points during that same period.

In 2022, Michigan ranked 43rd in the country on fourth grade reading, falling from 32nd in 2019. We fell farther and faster during COVID-19 on key subjects — dropping six and a half points in fourth grade reading, which was more than twice the national average in terms of points lost between 2019 and 2022. Michigan’s fourth graders are now performing 7 points lower on the NAEP reading assessment than they were in 2003.

e result of the state’s ongoing educational challenges means that while the recent ndings from the 2022 NAEP, often called the nation’s report card, were concerning for all Michigan students, they were especially so for students of color and from low-income backgrounds.

Black students’ performance on fourth grade reading fell 11 points from the 2019 NAEP, dropping

Michigan into the bottom ve states in 2022, while Michigan’s students from low-income backgrounds ranked the 11th worse in the nation, down from a ranking of 32nd in 2019, according to our recently released State of Michigan Education Report, Beyond the Pandemic.

At the same time, there is much that gives me hope for public education in our state. More organizations and leaders are calling for dramatic investment and thoughtful change to improve public schools.

Indeed, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to prioritize investment in education also accompanies other calls for critical changes among legislators and others. ere appears to be rising political will and an emerging movement for change, including through a growing coalition of advocates and other stakeholders.

In our report, we outline an Opportunity 10 agenda of 10 important moves Whitmer and policy leaders should leverage as they consider how to improve the public education system, particularly for the state’s most vulnerable students. ree priorities:

 Invest in educational recovery ere is much state leaders and districts can do to address students’ un nished learning — and thankfully, there are resources available to do so. As of January, about 80 percent of the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund III dollars are unspent in Michigan — or about $3 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education. e profound need — combined with signi cant, rare resources — provides the opportunity for state and district leaders to invest in strategies to ensure all students’ learning is caught up and accelerated.

New evidence from researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities, as well as my organization’s recent report, underscores how much learning was lost for many students during the pandemic, with urban and rural students often demonstrating much greater learning losses.

We urge leaders to support a plan that would leverage federal and state dollars to provide evidence-based strategies to address un nished learning. For instance, intensive tutoring is a practice that can help students catch up.

My organization is among those advocating for this plan, which should include not only state investment, but also robust mechanisms to evaluate the dollars’ e ectiveness and a system of scal transparency and oversight to ensure the dollars are being used as intended.

 Find equitable funding system

Michigan has one of the most regressive school funding formulas in the country, according to state and national research. e state has been underfunding its students for more than two decades, and the state’s academic outcomes are, in large part, a re ection of that. We are truly in a crisis.

Michigan should look to the nation’s leading education states for e ective new models of school funding systems such as Massachusetts, which is making great strides in creating a fair funding system that supports all students.

Indeed, Massachusetts’ funding system includes an index that accounts for levels of concentration of poverty that impact schools’ ability to support learning. Some leaders in Michigan call this type of approach an “Opportunity Index” as such indexes are designed to create greater opportunity for all students.

An Opportunity Index makes good sense for Michigan. With such an index, Michigan would establish a weighted funding formula that would provide additional funding of 35 percent to 100 percent to students living in poverty, spread across 12 bands determined by concentration of poverty. Students with disabilities need greater funding. We support increasing reimbursements to districts to fund the needs of students with individualized education programs, including funding for special education expenses and specialized transportation costs. e state should make investments in rural districts to account for their higher transportation costs.

Here’s the opportunity: Michigan has a $3.1 billion surplus in the school aid fund, including $1.1 billion in ongoing funding and $2 billion in one-time spending. at surplus can be used to begin to support an Opportunity Index — and greater investment in English Learners and students with disabilities — while state leaders consider a long-term school funding overhaul that would move to a fair funding system.

 Commit to transparency, oversight

All of these proposed investments are long overdue, yet they need to be done thoughtfully and strategically — and that means they need to be paired with a strong new system of scal transparency and oversight.

Presently Michigan lacks a system which allows the public to evaluate easily if dollars targeted to students from speci c backgrounds are reaching those students and the effectiveness of spending at the school level for impact on student learning. at’s why we are among the organizations that have joined the Michigan Partnership for Equity and Opportunity coalition, urging legislators to couple new investment in public education with strong, evidence-based systems of scal accountability and transparency, just as leading education states do.

Lessons from California show why it’s imperative for Michigan to create such a system. In recent years, California overhauled its funding system and dramatically increased its investment in its public education system. However, a growing body of evidence shows the dollars are not being spent as intended.

In an evaluation of California’s Local Control Funding Formula, researchers found only about half — about 55 cents — of every dollar committed to high-needs students was actually spent in the schools with the most high-needs students.

Fiscal transparency and accountability are needed more than ever with the federal funding provided through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. Whitmer and legislative leaders should ensure these dollars are being spent on research-backed practices to improve student outcomes.

Desmond Tutu once said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” Amid the troubling data, there is light.

It’s clearer than ever that Michigan can and should embrace this moment — and give all students a chance at success. e Opportunity 10 agenda outlined in our new report would do just that. We are optimistic that our leaders will make the most of this opportune time.