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Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan advocates call for more state education funding as ‘devastating' federal cuts are proposed
Photo byThis story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at Advocates are calling on Michigan legislators to invest more state dollars into targeted funding for students living in poverty as the Trump administration's efforts to slash federal education funding could have 'devastating' impacts on the most vulnerable students. An analysis released Thursday by the research and advocacy group Education Trust-Midwest found that Michigan still ranks among the lowest in the nation when it comes to equitably funding schools, despite new investments. The need for more equitable school funding after years of underinvestment in the state is heightened now by threats to federal dollars and students continuing to fall further behind on academic assessments, according to advocates. 'I've never used the word catastrophic in my career, but this is the word that comes to mind right now in terms of the situation that I think high-poverty districts are facing,' said Amber Arellano, executive director of EdTrust-Midwest. According to the group's report, Michigan ranked 44th in the nation for fourth grade reading and 31st for eighth grade math on an assessment known as the 'nation's report card' in 2024. Jen DeNeal, director of policy and research for EdTrust-Midwest, said Michigan did not have a solid foundation in teaching early literacy before COVID. After the pandemic, that foundation 'crumbled,' she said. The state's average reading scores dropped nearly 10 points between 2003 and 2024, said DeNeal, and the bulk of the drop happened during pandemic years. The Education Recovery Scorecard, which compares data on the national assessment to those administered in 2019 before the pandemic, placed Michigan in the bottom five of states for academic recovery. The scorecard found Michigan third through eighth graders are on average about two-fifths of a grade level behind in math and three-quarters of a grade level behind in reading compared to student scores in the state before COVID. The EdTrust-Midwest's analysis found the trend held true in rural, suburban, and urban areas across the state. 'Some of the largest gaps are in suburbs and towns and rural areas where we see these big proficiency discrepancies pre-and post-pandemic,' said DeNeal. Data from the state's 2024 assessments, known as the M-STEP, show students from low-income families, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities fell at least 10 percentage points below state averages in third grade reading and seventh grade math. The prospect of federal funding rollbacks could be 'devastating' to Michigan students who are still struggling to catch up, said Arellano, noting that research shows more funding for programs that assist students with higher needs can lead to better academic outcomes. Last week, President Donald Trump proposed cutting nearly $6 billion in federal K-12 spending and consolidating 18 grant programs into a one funding stream states could spend without restrictions. 'One very clear message that we are getting from this proposed Trump budget is that public education for all students is not a priority,' said Arellano. The proposal for the 2025-26 school year would eliminate programs for English language learners and children of migrant farm workers. Michigan has long lagged behind other states when it comes to funding education initiatives for English language learners, though it has made some increases in recent years. Trump's budget would also cut money for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which enforces anti-discrimination laws in schools, by more than a third. Cuts that have already been made to the Office for Civil Rights have begun impacting Michigan students with disabilities, with many reporting their open cases have not moved since the Trump administration began its second term. Title I funding, which is allocated to schools that serve students from low-income families, and dollars distributed under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act are not slated to be cut under Trump's plan. Arellano said other federal proposed cuts could have negative impacts on Michigan students, such as a congressional Republican plan that would make it more difficult for schools to provide universal free school meals. According to the Michigan Department of Education, that plan could mean thousands of students in the state could lose free school meals. Just to stay stable with current funding levels for districts, the state will have to step in to cover shortfalls caused by potential federal cuts – particularly for students living in poverty, English language learners, and children with disabilities, Arellano said. 'The truth is that we're already underfunding these groups of students,' she said. Michigan first adopted a weighted funding system for students considered to be 'at-risk' in 2023. The system, known as the 'opportunity index,' assigns districts to one of six bands based on the percentage of students living in poverty. Each band determines how much additional funding a district will receive. Before that, Michigan allocated the same amount of per-pupil dollars to all students classified as at-risk. For the 2024-25 school year, Michigan invested about $1 billion into the opportunity index. The change came after years of advocates calling for a new system in response to the state being ranked among the worst states in the nation for its gaps in funding between districts in impoverished and wealthy communities. The Michigan Department of Education determines whether students are at risk with a set of criteria that includes factors such as being from an economically disadvantaged family, learning English as a second language, being chronically absent from school, or experiencing homelessness. EdTrust-Midwest's new analysis found Michigan in the bottom 10 of states for weighted funding, despite historic investments in the opportunity index. The group's report calls for the state to invest an additional $2 billion in the opportunity index over the next five years to reverse the impact of years of underfunding. The report also recommends more guardrails in place to ensure the weighted dollars are being spent on the students they are intended for. Michigan is still early into its budget process for the next school year. In her February budget proposal, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed increasing funding for at-risk students by more than 4%. Last month, the Democratically-controlled state Senate approved a plan that would increase at-risk funds by 25%. The Republican-controlled state House passed a bare-bones education budget proposal in March that only included dollars for special education, mental health, and school safety programs, an increase to the per-pupil foundation allowance, and allocations to the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System. Republicans said the proposal was passed to fund essential government functions in case negotiations with Democrats stall the process this summer. 'This is not the time for cutting funds for kids,' said Arellano. 'Kids in our state are behind other states. This is the time when we need our leaders to lean in and support educators and students in our schools.' Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@ Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit's free newsletter to keep up with the city's public school system and Michigan education policy.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Education leaders alarmed over lagging Michigan reading, math scores, Trump education plan
While federal lawmakers consider slashing billions of dollars from the federal education budget, Michigan education leaders are once again sounding the alarm on public school students' lagging academic achievement, which puts the state in the bottom half of the nation for both fourth grade reading and eighth grade math, according to a new report. The report is an annual analysis from EdTrust-Midwest, a Detroit-based advocacy organization that has long tried to capture the moment in the state's public school system in its state of education reports. The organization has found in this year's report that Michigan ranks 44th in fourth grade reading and 31st for eighth grade math, two barometers researchers use to measure academic standings of public K-12 school students. The statistics underscore growing unease by some education advocates over President Donald Trump's proposed education plans, which include a cut to federal funds. "It is unquestionable that we are at an urgent moment and that we must do something, and we're doing something by being strong advocates for our children," said Alice Thompson, chair of the Detroit Branch NAACP's education committee. And this year especially has marked a shift in the way policymakers, education leaders and more have talked about academic outcomes. While the past four years have focused on pandemic school closures and those closures' meteoric collision with education, leaders have begun to point out that students were lagging before "COVID-19" became a recognizable term. Instead, the data shows how the pandemic widened achievement gaps and complicated student outcomes, experts say. "We were just kind of going along, not really strengthening reading for our kids," said Jen DeNeal, director of policy and research for EdTrust. "We were just kind of barely keeping pace. And then when a huge catastrophe like the pandemic hit, our kids didn't have the foundation they needed to sustain that learning." EdTrust's report puts Michigan in the bottom five states nationally for pandemic learning loss in reading since 2019, just ahead of Florida, Oklahoma, Delaware and Nebraska, behind North Carolina and West Virginia. The academic struggles are more pronounced in the scores of Michigan's Black and Latino students, as well as students with disabilities, according to the report. Students from low-income backgrounds, Black and Latino students, fell at least 10 percentage points below the state's third grade reading average on the state M-STEP test, according to EdTrust's analysis. And DeNeal said the losses are similar among types of districts across the state, meaning rural areas are struggling similarly to suburban areas and cities in student proficiency on assessments. "What we can see is that across all of these locales is: The kids are still behind," DeNeal said. "And, in fact, in suburbs and towns, in rural areas and in small and midsized cities, we still see some of the largest gaps between where kids were in 2019 ... in 2024." Teacher Appreciation Week 2025: Deals, free food and discounts for Michigan educators The organization's report calls for a larger state investment in education, including an infusion of $2 billion over the next five years to fully fund its newly created opportunity index, which targets funding for schools serving higher proportions of vulnerable students. The report also calls for stronger fiscal transparency and accountability laws, to better account for where schools spend money. Mike Jandernoa, the founder of an investment firm in Grand Rapids, said it is critical that business leaders support public education because the system creates future workers. More transparency will help parents and leaders alike trust the system and know that it needs strong funding from the state, he said. "We have one of the weakest systems for accountability and transparency," he said. "Most parents have no idea of the challenges that we face, so it's important that we're able to communicate the need and the message to the rest of the state." More: Trump's budget hits Michigan with education, housing, community development cuts Trump's proposed skinny budget would, overall, slash $163 billion from the federal budget. But for now, the proposal is just that — a plan that's not set in stone. Nationwide, education spending would be cut by $12 billion under the plan, which would consolidate some spending streams into what are called block grants, which supporters say would give schools and states more flexibility in their spending. The plan doesn't touch two major federal funding sources: the main portion of Title I funding, meant to boost schools that serve the highest proportions of disadvantaged students, and the primary federal funding for students with disabilities through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA sent about $460 million to schools in Michigan in 2024, or about 15% of the funding for special education services, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy. However, the proposed cuts do call for eliminating or consolidating funding for programs for English Learners, adult education, migrant education and some early childhood programs. Amber Arellano, executive director of EdTrust-Midwest, said the proposal drastically eliminates accountability measures for federal education spending, potentially taking safeguards away that would make sure the funding is spent on vulnerable students who need it the most. "We are now, I think, facing as a state — and I've never used this term to describe the moment that we're in — potentially catastrophic consequences for schools, especially schools with significant percentages of low-income students," she said. Free Press staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump education plan could make Michigan scores worse, advocates say
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Michigan Students in Poorest Districts More Likely To Have Less-Qualified Teachers
Michigan students in the highest-poverty school districts are most likely to learn from teachers who are inexperienced, have emergency or temporary credentials or those who are teaching classes outside their field of expertise, according to a recent report by The Education Trust-Midwest. For example, teachers in districts with the highest concentrations of poverty are almost three times more likely to be early in their career, with less than three years of experience. And students in these districts are 16 times more likely to learn from a teacher with temporary or emergency credentials than their peers in Michigan's wealthiest school districts. 'The teacher shortage crisis that we hear a lot about here in Michigan is far worse for our students with the greatest needs,' said Jen DeNeal, director of policy and research at EdTrust-Midwest and lead author of the report. DeNeal noted that research shows that novice, not fully credentialed teachers are generally less effective in the classroom. While the national teacher shortage in certain subjects has been well documented as an intractable issue that's worsened since the pandemic, the EdTrust study released last month uniquely zooms in on district-level data and demonstrates the scope of the problem. 'Having gaps is, of course, not a surprise,' said Michael Hansen, a senior fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. 'Having gaps of this magnitude is pretty stark.' DeNeal and her team at EdTrust, which advocates for educational equity with a focus on children who have been traditionally underserved, spent two years analyzing educator workforce data from public and non-public sources, conducting focus groups and reviewing previous research. They used Michigan's Opportunity Index, a state funding formula passed in 2023 that includes an index for concentrations of poverty, to divide school districts into six bands. Band one includes districts with fewer than 20% of students living in concentrated poverty while band six includes districts where 85% to 100% of students live in these conditions. Researchers then looked at how highly qualified teachers — defined as those who were fully certified with more than three years of experience teaching in their certification or more refined speciality areas — were distributed across these districts. They found that in the 2022-23 school year, more than 16% of teachers in high-poverty districts were teaching a subject or grade not listed on their license — that's twice the state average. These districts accounted for more than a third of all out-of-field educators in the state, despite only employing 13.5% of Michigan teachers. While out-of-field teachers are typically a stop-gap resource preferable to a revolving door of substitutes, they may lack the content knowledge and skills needed to effectively teach, and students who learn from them tend to have less academic growth in that subject. Those with emergency credentials are also able to fill teacher vacancies when more qualified ones aren't available, though they're more likely to be rated as 'unsatisfactory' or 'needs improvement' when compared to other new teachers. Related Hansen noted that being trained and fully licensed makes a teacher more likely to provide quality instruction in the classroom, but 'it's no guarantee.' And while these findings do likely point to a 'more effective teacher workforce in these more affluent settings, and … a less effective workforce in the high-needs settings, it's probably not the case that it's going to be 16 times more effective.' Yet, 'of all these different factors and characteristics that they're highlighting in this report, experience is the number one that's documented to show an impact across multiple studies and multiple grades,' he added. Persistent vacancies may be particularly hard to fill in Michigan, where teacher attrition is slightly worse than the national average, and teacher turnover is far higher for students living in poverty. For example Black students, who account for only 18% of the statewide student enrollment, make up 45% of enrollment in schools where teachers were most likely to leave. In districts where a majority of children are Black, students were nearly four times more likely to learn from an out-of-field teacher, four times more likely to learn from a teacher with emergency credentials and nearly twice as likely to learn from a beginning teacher than in districts serving primarily white students. In focus groups, teachers pointed to a number of factors contributing to the shortage, including the pandemic, discipline challenges and chronic absenteeism. They also reported that their classrooms are overfilled, they have less one-on-one time with students and less planning time because they're being called on to substitute teach. One issue, though, came up again and again: pay. Related 'We're not competitive regionally and we're not terribly competitive nationally,' DeNeal said. Between 1999 and 2019, Michigan's inflation-adjusted teacher salary fell more than 20%, representing the second-largest teacher salary decline in the country. First-year teachers in Michigan earned, on average, about $39,000 a year, rendering it 39th nationally and last among Great Lake states. And researchers found that teachers in the wealthiest district are paid, on average, about $4,000 more annually than those in the poorest districts. This is exactly the opposite of what the pay structure should look like, according to Dan Goldhaber, an education researcher at the American Institute of Research and the University of Washington. He argued that teachers in more challenging environments should be paid more than their peers to compensate for the additional hurdles. 'I don't think this is an issue where we need a lot of research to know that this problem exists and to know at least what some of the potential solutions are,' he said. 'This is an issue where the politics I think make it challenging to implement at least some of the solutions.' Related DeNeal said that although these challenges are 'troubling and extremely persistent, they are not insurmountable.' The report put forward five recommendations, based on teacher focus groups and previous research: prioritize fair and equitable funding; improve state education data systems to increase transparency; provide greater support for school administrators; focus on making teaching an attractive and competitive career and increase access to high-quality professional development for teachers. Thomas Morgan, spokesperson for the Michigan Education Association, emphasized the importance of incorporating teacher voice in the solutions. 'When you want to know what to do to fix our schools,' he said, 'the first people you should talk to are people working on the front lines: those teachers working in our schools. They see things, they live it, they breathe it and they should be consulted.'
