Information on Michigan academic standards and instructional resources.
Responsible for providing final decisions in administrative appeals to MDE.
Learn more about the MDE office responsible for providing leadership in curriculum and instruction that provides students with greater choices to prepare for success.
Resources for educator certification, recognition programs, evaluation, and workforce research.
Resources related to financial and pupil accounting and auditing.
Options available for Michigan students that provide unique learning opportunities.
Food & Nutrition Programs
This MDE office provides resources and technical assistance in physical education, sex education, health education, behavioral, emotional, mental, and social education as well as safety, discipline, and transportation.
Resources for programs and initiatives that support school improvement efforts.
Resources for supporting special education in Michigan.
Michigan has an innovative and comprehensive system of assessments to measure student achievement in learning our state content standards.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
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Pursuant to the Revised School Code (MCL), also known as Public Act 451 of 1976, a PSA is a state-supported public school under the state constitution, operating under a charter contract issued by a public authorizing body [MCL 380.501(1), MCL 380.552]. PSAs are also commonly referred to as charter schools.
Charter schools may include grades K-12 or any combination of those grades. They may not charge tuition and must serve anyone who applies to attend up to enrollment capacity; that is, they may not screen out students based on race, religion, gender, or test scores. Students are selected randomly for admission if the number of students applying exceeds the school's enrollment capacity [MCL 380.504(2)]. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) eliminates the Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) provision and reverts to state standards. Michigan requires all charter school educators to be certified. Charter school students are assessed annually as part of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP). Charter schools are required to administer other state-mandated assessments such as the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) and Access for ELs, WIDA ACCESS 2.0. Charter schools cannot be religiously affiliated [MCL 380.502(1)].
A charter school must be chartered by the governing board of a public body that is authorized to issue charter contracts pursuant to Michigan law. In Michigan, an “authorizing body” means any of the following, pursuant to MCL 380.501(1):
However, not all potential authorizers take advantage of the opportunity to issue charters. The list of authorizers of current authorizers is located at the MDE PSA unit website under the Maps and Lists of Public School Academies’ heading.
The fact that not all eligible entities choose to authorize does not preclude charter school developers from requesting consideration from any potential authorizer. At one time, a cap was imposed on the number of charter schools that state public universities could authorize. This cap expired on December 31, 2014. The only remaining caps on establishing charter schools apply to cyber schools and their authorizers.
Interested developers should review and become familiar with all the materials on the MDE PSA website before embarking on the charter school development journey.
To determine which authorizers are accepting charter applications, begin with an analysis of where the proposed charter school will be located. There are multiple eligible authorizers that a development team may engage with. Local school districts, intermediate school districts, and community colleges can issue charter school contracts within their geographic boundaries.
The University authorizers and Bay Mills Community College can issue charters anywhere within the State of Michigan.
To determine whether an entity is eligible to become a charter cyber school authorizer as defined by state statute, the following information applies:
*Additional legislative requirements can be found in MCL 380.552
