Increased School Funding, Literacy Efforts, Higher Graduation Rates Celebrated

LANSING – Increased funding for Michigan’s students—including for children who are economically disadvantaged or have disabilities—is among the improvements being celebrated by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

Other progress to celebrate includes numerous efforts that have allowed more people to prepare to become teachers, implementing historic literacy and dyslexia laws, continuing to support free meals for all students, higher graduation rates, and increased participation and success in Career and Technical Education and Advanced Placement programs.

The State Board of Education at its meeting this week received an annual update on progress toward all eight goals in Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan. The plan was developed in 2016 and updated and approved by the board in 2020. It is considered the state’s plan, going beyond an MDE plan by providing focused direction to the entire education community.

“To put Students First, we need to celebrate our progress toward the eight goals in our plan and also recognize that we have more work to do,” said State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko. “While our local educators have been improving Michigan’s education system with support from MDE, I have pledged to update and strengthen Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan. In the coming months, I will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to do just that.”

Maleyko became state superintendent in December.

“The State Board of Education is committed to continuing to advance Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan and to making further improvements to public education,” said Board President Dr. Pamela Pugh. “I am confident Dr. Maleyko’s leadership and collaborative spirit, along with the hard work of dedicated local educators, will help Michigan make additional gains in student outcomes.”

Highlights of the improvements that were celebrated include:

Goal 8, to provide adequate and equitable school funding, which is one of two foundational goals that serve as building blocks for the strategic plan.

• An 18% increase in per-pupil education funding in Michigan over 5 years, from $8,529 per student in fiscal year 2021 to $10,050 in fiscal year 2026.
• Significant increases in funding for economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, English learners and students in rural and isolated school districts.

Goal 7, to increase the numbers of certified teachers in areas of shortage, which is the second foundational goal.

• An 87% increase in people entering teacher preparation programs in Michigan, from 9,512 in the 2016-17 academic year to 17,780 in 2023-24. That came after a 59% drop from the 2011-12 academic year to 2016-17. The turnaround came as the state coordinated numerous efforts to attract and retain teachers, including scholarships for educators, stipends for student teachers and Grow Your Own programs, to name a few.

Goal 2, to improve early literacy achievement.

• Implementation of historic 2024 literacy and dyslexia laws that help schools identify children who are struggling to learn to read and provide early intervention through work that includes both preservice and inservice teachers. That has included MDE approval in December of:
• A list of approved K-3 valid and reliable screening and progress monitoring reading assessments.
• A list of evidence-based tier 1, class-wide elementary reading curricula and materials that research has shown improves literacy outcomes and helps pupils achieve reading proficiency.

Goal 3, to improve the health, safety and wellness of all learners.

• Making available one free breakfast and one free lunch for all students, which results in more students focusing on learning and not their next meal and saves parents $1,000 per child annually.
• Schools adding nearly 200 school resource officers and over 650 support staff to support student safety and mental health and increasing the number of school resource officers, upgrading safety features and training school staff to respond to threats.

Goal 4, to expand secondary learning opportunities for all students.

• Increasing enrollment in Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes and a record percentage of students completing CTE programs. During the last three years, the number of CTE completers increased by almost 10,800 students, or by 24%, to the highest level in Michigan history. 
• Historic highs in Advanced Placement (AP) participation, the number of students taking one or more AP tests, the number of AP tests taken and the number of students scoring a 3,4 or 5 on AP tests, scores that often qualify for college credit. AP participation has increased by 12.3% in the last two years. The number of students taking one or more AP tests topped 63,000. The number of AP tests taken was almost 111,000. The number of students scoring a 3, 4 or 5 exceeded 44,000.

Goal 5, to increase the percentage of all students who graduate from high school.

• A record four-year high school graduation rate of 82.8% for Michigan in 2024.
• Nearly 80% of partnership district high schools increased their graduation rate in 2025. Partnership districts receive support from MDE to approve achievement levels at the lowest-performing schools in Michigan.

Goal 1, to expand early childhood learning opportunities.

• Record prekindergarten for all enrollment for this school year, with 51,000 children statewide enrolled in the Great Start Readiness Program as of October, according to the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential.

Goal 6, to increase the percentage of adults with a postsecondary credential.

• Progress toward Michigan’s goal of having 60% of working-age Michiganders having a certificate or college degree by 2030, with the percentage up from 48.9% in 2018 to 51.8% in 2023.

The department’s deputy superintendents—Chief Deputy Superintendent Dr. Sue C. Carnell; Dr. Delsa Chapman, Division of Assessment, School Improvement and Systems Support; Dr. Michele Harmala, Division of Educator Excellence, Career and Technical Education, Special Education and Administrative Law; and Dr. Diane Golzynski, Division of Business, Health and Library Services—presented the update to the board to highlight the progress made due to the efforts of local educators and the deputy’s teams at MDE.

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