Michigan Needs Legislative Support for Further Education Gains

State Superintendent Presents to Senate Education Committee

LANSING – The state’s public schools are making progress toward the eight goals in Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice told a legislative committee today, but they need further support from the legislature.

Dr. Rice presented to the Michigan Senate Committee on Education, to say that legislators should support children by funding education priorities and passing a budget to provide for lower class sizes, more in-person instruction, and expansion of early literacy efforts, among other measures.

“No one metric defines public education,” he said. “That’s why we have multiple goals of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan and multiple metrics for goals. In the last few years, Michigan has improved in many areas, some of which are at historic levels.”

While Gov. Whitmer’s executive budget recommendation and the Senate’s budget financially support many of the legislative requests, Dr. Rice said, the House budget in many cases falls short of the necessary support. The House budget eliminates funding for LETRS training, which the department believes should be mandatory, zeros out high-quality early literacy materials and general education transportation reimbursement, and lumps funding for many programs into a large block grant instead of dedicated specific funding for priorities such as English learners, CTE, and teacher shortage certification measures.

While there have been many improvements in education, the state has much more work to do in improving students’ reading and writing skills, Dr. Rice said.

The improvements include Michigan:

• Reaching its highest four-year graduation rate in history, 82.8%, in 2024. (Goal 5 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan) That is the highest level since the state adopted the federal formula for calculating the rate in 2008.
• Increasing 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)
• Reaching 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 with scores of 3, 4, or 5, which often generate college credit (44,711), and number of AP tests with scores of 3, 4, or 5 (77,381). (Goal 4 of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan)
• Increasing 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)
• Passing into law in 2024 generational literacy/dyslexia improvements to strengthen early literacy materials, professional development, and coaching and to require dyslexia screening and intervention.

Dr. Rice also shared how the legislature can help with additional improvements. Legislative requests from the Michigan Department of Education include:

• Lower class sizes in high-poverty grades K-3 classrooms, which research has shown to help children learn early literacy and numeracy.
• More in-person student instructional time by rolling back legislative changes from 2019 to 2023 that decreased the number of required in-person instructional days. While state law requires a minimum of 180 days of instruction, exceptions—nine days for closures due to conditions not within the control of local school officials, seven days of educational professional development that count as student instructional time, and 15 virtual instructional days—can reduce that number to 149 days of face-to-face instructional time with teachers.
• Funding for high-quality early literacy materials for school districts.
• Mandatory training for grades K-5 classroom teachers on the science of reading via Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS).

The Michigan Department of Education will continue to work with the legislature and governor on a budget that will build upon educational successes.

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