Latest news with #MichiganSchoolMeals
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michael Rice, head of Michigan Department of Education, will retire in October
Michael Rice, the head of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), will retire Oct. 3, according to an announcement Friday. Rice, who began his career as a high school French teacher and formerly led Kalamazoo Public Schools, was appointed by the Michigan State Board of Education in 2019. 'It's been an honor to serve Michigan's 1.4 million public school children over the last six school years,' he wrote in a news release. 'It's been a privilege to work with the State Board of Education and the state's talented teachers, students, parents, administrators, support staff, Governor Whitmer, state legislators, education organizations, broader community, and the dedicated staff of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), small in number but mighty in battle, to improve education for our children.' Rice wrote that his family members are getting older and, "with a nod to Robert Frost, I have promises to keep to them." He plans to write, consult, and mentor after exiting the state education department. Rice led Michigan's education agency through one of the most turbulent periods in the country's recent history: the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also been a proponent of strengthened reading instruction and dyslexia recognition in schools across the state. And he's been outspoken in more recent months in his opposition to numerous Trump administration moves, including the executive order to eliminate the federal U.S. Department of Education. Among the achievements highlighted in MDE's news release about Rice's retirement: Michigan's four-year graduation rate is the highest in recorded history, at 82.8% in 2024. Michigan has more students completing career and technical education programs than ever. And MDE has helped administer the Michigan School Meals program, passed by the Legislature in 2023, which provides all Michigan public school students in participating districts with free breakfast and lunch. It's unclear when the State Board, an elected body, will convene to choose Rice's successor to lead the state's education agency. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Head of Michigan Department of Education to retire in October
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What does the Michigan Department of Education do?
As the U.S. Department of Education's workforce is cut in half through a federal push to cut costs — and President Donald Trump claims he will follow through with a campaign promise to eliminate the agency entirely — the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is in the spotlight. Trump has said repeatedly he wants education to be under state control, though Michigan's schools are mostly locally controlled, meaning local districts set curricula and handle the details around what students are taught and how. Eliminating the federal department entirely would require Congress to act. There are differences in what the state department of education does and the federal department does, however both take oversight roles while local school boards and administrators execute many of the core parts of educating public school students, such as setting curricula, choosing class materials and hiring educators. "I think the State Board of Education is going to play a significant role in, if nothing else, educating the population on what all of these executive orders and the potential impact that they can have on the state as far as public education is concerned," said Casandra Ulbrich, who served on the board from 2007 to the end of 2022, including a stint as board president. "I don't see (MDE's) role diminishing, I see it actually getting stronger and more important as the attack on public education continues." The Michigan Department of Education was established through state law and operates as an arm of the state government. The federal department was established through federal law. The federal department largely takes on broad oversight of public education in the country: disbursing federal funds including Title I for schools serving low income communities, collecting national education data, and managing federal student loans. The state department of education, based in Lansing, broadly oversees public schools in Michigan: It helps administer programs like the Michigan School Meals program, supervises state and local special education programs, administers state grants, maintains and oversees teacher certifications and more. Michael Rice, state superintendent of education, leads the Michigan Department of Education. The state superintendent is not elected, but appointed by the State Board of Education. The State Board appointed Rice in 2019 to lead the department on a 5-3 vote. Rice led Kalamazoo Public Schools before his appointment for 12 years, and was a school superintendent in New Jersey before that. Rice, in an emailed statement Tuesday evening following news of the layoffs, wrote that staffing cuts for the federal department will ultimately impact vulnerable children. 'Today's action is an outrage, a likely prelude to programs, protections, and funding — and by extension children in Michigan and around the country — being adversely affected," he wrote. There are eight members of the Michigan State Board of Education, and they are elected every eight years. If a member unexpectedly leaves their seat during that term, the governor appoints that seat. The elected members are: Marshall Bullock II, Ellen Cogen Lipton, Tom McMillin, Judith Pritchett, Pamela Pugh, Mitchell Robinson, Nikki Snyder and Tiffany Tilley. According to state law, the board is charged with being "the general planning and coordinating body for all public education." Importantly, board members are the ones who hire the state superintendent. Ulbrich said the board often serves a policy-driven role, issuing and voting on resolutions that recommend policies state lawmakers and other education leaders should adopt. "That's why you see so many resolutions coming from the State Board of Education, because that's our collective voice to say we're representing public education in the state of Michigan, and this is what we think needs to happen," she said. On Tuesday, for instance, the board adopted a resolution on a 5-2 vote titled "Defending public education, civil rights, and democracy against executive orders and directives that threaten our children and communities." That resolution is a response to Trump's executive orders so far, and condemns those actions, encouraging school districts to continue to protect equity and inclusion in education. More: 5 years after schools shuttered for COVID, Michigan students are still not the same More: Trump's layoffs at US Department of Education: What it means for Michigan's public schools The state agency includes, among others, the following departments: Nutrition services: Oversees and administers the National School Lunch and Michigan School Meals programs, among other initiatives. Health & Safety: Issues guidance to schools around health and safety issues such as social-emotional issues, health education and mental health. Career and technical education: Works with regional career and technical education officials for support and development. Educational assessment and accountability: Responsible for state testing and other accountability measures. Educator services: Oversees educator certification, administers workforce programs to improve teacher shortages in the state, and collects workforce data. Special education: Oversees and administers supports for school programs for students with disabilities. Ulbrich said one of the most effective roles MDE stepped into is that of helping try to turnaround schools that struggled academically. The effort was created to meet federal law provisions that require states to assist low-achieving schools, according to Chalkbeat Detroit. "They work with the schools that are struggling the most, and those tend to be high poverty schools," she said. "We really tried to turn it from we're here to punish you — which under the No Child Left Behind that's what it became was as punishment — into something of, we want to work with you and find out what your unique needs are, and then help you identify the resources to impact those unique needs." MDE is not the only education-oriented state agency. In July 2023, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential. The agency is focused on accelerating the state's early childhood and higher education programs, including Whitmer's free pre-K for all initiative, which allows 4-year-olds in all Michigan families, regardless of income, to be eligible for free pre-kindergarten. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What does the Michigan Department of Education do?
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's layoffs at US Department of Education: What it means for Michigan's public schools
Cuts to the U.S. Department of Education will likely significantly weaken its operations or, education leaders fear, possibly imperil how billions of dollars in federal education funding is managed. President Donald Trump's cuts of thousands of federal jobs from the department came Tuesday. Any barrier between students and that funding, said advocates with organizations that work with vulnerable students, could lead to worse outcomes for those students. The layoffs also come amid speculation over whether Trump will issue a new executive order seeking to further gut or eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. You may see the word "unclear" a lot as you read through stories about Trump's intent to eliminate the federal department, which can only be eliminated through Congress. That's because a lot is, simply, unclear about how layoffs or an executive order's impact could trickle down to states and communities. Education top boss Linda McMahon and Trump have said the effort is designed to send education authority back to states, but authority over what is still hazy: In Michigan, communities set curriculum, make budget decisions and make other consequential choices over how students are educated. The U.S. department, instead, oversees discrimination investigations in educational institutions, federal funding for vulnerable students and students with disabilities, national testing and more. It's highly unlikely, given curricula is determined at the local level. Under Michigan law, local school boards set core academic curriculum that follows state academic standards. The state academic standards are recommended and developed by Michigan's State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education. No. The National school free breakfast and lunch programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Michigan School Meals, the state-level program that supplements the national program to make meals free for all students instead of solely income-eligible students and communities, is run and funded through the state. That doesn't mean free school meals couldn't be in the administration's crosshairs. Some conservative groups do favor instituting more limitations on free meal programs, according to Education Week. The Department of Agriculture has also cut $1 billion in funding that helps schools and food banks purchase from local farmers, according to USA TODAY. Michigan signed an agreement with the USDA in 2022 for more than $5.8 million in that program. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is federal law. Funding for it, and the law itself, would not be eliminated through action eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, according to the School Superintendents Association. Michigan schools received about $460 million in federal funding for special education in 2024, about 15% of the funding for special education services, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy. Student special education services are also protected by law and would remain in place, even if the U.S. Department of Education does not. But advocates have also expressed concern around the future of the Office For Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Education, which investigates allegations of civil rights violations, including violations of rights entitled to students with disabilities, in publicly funded schools. In Michigan alone, the Office for Civil Rights shows multiple pending cases under a range of complaints such as denial of benefits, restraint and seclusion, discipline, service animal violations and more. In fact, a major Office For Civil Rights investigation in Michigan over a state failure to educate students with disabilities during the pandemic has yet to be resolved. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened its investigation into Michigan's education department in June 2022. The investigation found that the Michigan Department of Education failed to ensure some students with disabilities received the education guaranteed to them by federal law and worsened issues for those vulnerable students. But a resolution for the investigation has not been reached, and it's unclear when one will. In early February, advocates reported that the department was canceling mediation sessions for ongoing cases. However, USA TODAY reported that the Trump administration lifted a pause on looking into disability-related claims on Feb. 20. USA TODAY staff writers Zachary Schermele and Joey Garrison contributed to this report. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump's Department of Education cuts: The impact on Michigan schools
