Michael F. Rice, Ph.D. - State Superintendent

Michael F. Rice, Ph.D. was appointed Michigan's 44th superintendent of public instruction by Michigan's State Board of Education in May 2019, with his official start on August 1.

As state superintendent, chair of the State Board of Education, and head of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), in 2020 Dr. Rice led the revamping, with the State Board of Education, of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, with defined goals and associated metrics. During his tenure:

• Michigan has reached its highest four-year graduation rate in history, 82.8 percent, in 2024. (Goal 5 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• Michigan has increased student participation in five rigorous secondary school programs beyond pre-pandemic levels, in some cases to historic levels: career and technical education (CTE), Advanced Placement (AP), dual enrollment, early middle college, and International Baccalaureate. (Goal 4 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• Michigan has reached historic highs in CTE program completers (52,625); dual enrollment participation (35,145); Early Middle College participation (15,905); and number of students taking one or more AP tests (63,053), number of AP tests taken (110,901), number of students with AP tests of 3, 4, or 5, scores that often generate college credit (44,711), and number of AP tests of 3, 4, or 5 (77,381). (Goal 4 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• The state began the Michigan School Meals Program--universal free breakfast and lunch for all public school children--and increased the number of daily breakfasts by 26% and the number of daily lunches by 20%. (Part of Goal 3 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• With support from the state board and department, Michigan increased its children’s mental health and school safety budget from $31 million to more than $250 million and increased the number of helping professionals—counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists—by 1,700.(Part of Goal 3 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• The state has increased teacher preparation program enrollment every year since 2016-17, a total increase of 71 percent during this period. To support MDE recommendations to the governor and legislature to address the teacher shortage, the legislature has appropriated $1.1 billion over three fiscal years for fellowships/scholarships and student teacher stipends for aspiring teachers, Grow Your Own programs for support staff and students to become teachers, teacher student loan repayments, mentoring and induction grants, and a rural credentialing hub, among other efforts in this area. (Goal 7 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• The department fought for generational literacy/dyslexia legislation, passed into law in the fall of 2024, to strengthen early literacy materials, professional development, and coaching and to require dyslexia screening and intervention. It has led the push to provide LETRS science of literacy professional development for educators, with more than 3,600 teachers having completed the training and more than 6,400 having begun the training as of January 2025, in addition to the department’s extensive efforts to expand diversity in literacy and comprehensive history instruction. (Goal 2 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• The state board and department have fought for more adequate and equitable school funding for students, including but not limited to economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, English learners, and rural students, as well as general education transportation reimbursement. (Goal 8 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan).
• Michigan’s pre-school program, the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), has consistently ranked tied for first nationally in quality over the last several years, as the state works to implement Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s call for universally accessible pre-school.In the winter of 2025, the governor announced that GSRP enrollment had reached a record high in Michigan. (Goal 1 of the state’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• Michigan’s percentage of adults ages 25-64 with a postsecondary credential has risen to 51.8 percent, on the way to the governor’s Sixty by 30 goal: 60 percent of all 25-64 year olds with a postsecondary credential. (Goal 6 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• Michigan raised its state summative test results in 15 of 20 categories in spring 2023 and 13 of 20 categories in spring 2024.
• The state board and department have worked to lift up and demonstrate the value of student voice, through five years of a diverse MDE Student Advisory Council, board presentations that have included students, and a student-produced guidance document on the importance of safe spaces.
• The state board and department have additionally worked to lift up and support all students, including those who are marginalized or stigmatized.

Dr. Rice came to the Michigan Department of Education after serving 17 years as a local district superintendent: 12 years as superintendent in Kalamazoo, Michigan and five as superintendent in Clifton, New Jersey.

During his tenure in Kalamazoo, the community passed all ten education-related ballot initiatives, and the district began full-day pre-school, quintupled the number of full-day kindergarten students, and improved student achievement in all board strategic plan areas of reading, writing, math, Advanced Placement participation and success, and graduation rates. The district also built its first three new schools in over a third of a century, started an English-Spanish dual language school, began two new alternative programs, and started a mentoring program that served more than 1,400 students.  The district grew by more than 1,400 students—double-digit percentage growth—during his tenure.

During his tenure in Clifton, the community passed eight education-related ballot initiatives.  The district began and implemented full-day kindergarten in all its elementary schools; opened its first new school in 42 years; built an extension and an annex for the high school, at 3400 students the largest on a single campus in New Jersey; and created dual enrollment programs for children at Clifton High School to attend Passaic County Community College and Montclair State University.  Student achievement rose in all board strategic plan areas.

Dr. Rice began his career in public education in the Washington, D.C. Public Schools, where he taught high school French, and founded and coached an award-winning speech and debate program. He graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in psychology with honors and from New York University with a master's degree and doctoral degree in public administration, also with honors.

His most rewarding work remains his mentoring and teaching of, and informal discussions with, school children, which he continues to do as Michigan's state superintendent.