Mich. Ed. Update – July 3

Over the course of the summer, updates from The Education Trust-Midwest will be distributed on the first Tuesday of each month.

Weekly updates will resume on September 11, 2018.

Ed Trust-Midwest joins business, education, philanthropic and other organizations to deepen collective P-12 efforts

On June 20, the Education Trust-Midwest joined with more than 30 organizations to announce a new initiative and partnership, called Launch Michigan, that will deepen work advocating for improved student learning outcomes for all of Michigan’s students. The groups outlined their plans at a press conference in Lansing.

This partnership of business, education, labor, philanthropy, and state and community leaders will focus on shared solutions to Michigan’s educational challenges. We agree that the issues facing public education in Michigan require a sense of urgency and that everyone has a role to play in improving our public education system.

For a full list of partner organizations, visit www.launchmichigan.org.

Education budget a win for equity, a win for students

Last week, Governor Rick Snyder signed a $16.8 billion dollar education budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins October 1. We thank leaders in Michigan’s legislature and Governor Snyder for creating a budget that invests in Michigan students. Highlights include:

• Maintaining a high level of funding to support the education of “at-risk” students: These funds, significantly increased in recent years, provide schools with additional resources to support the education of students from low-income families and other vulnerable populations.
• Continued investment in improving early literacy education: By the end of this fiscal year, Michigan will have spent more than $100 million to improve learning outcomes for students in grades K-3. Following Ed Trust-Midwest’s March 2018 report demonstrating continued learning declines despite these investments, schools will be required to report on how they are using these funds and how student outcomes are impacted, under a new data reporting requirement in this budget.
• Increase in student spending: The budget increases per-pupil spending by $120-$240, compared to the prior year. This represents the single largest increase in per-pupil spending since Fiscal Year 2002.

 Capital Update

The legislature is currently in recess and is next scheduled to meet on Wednesday, July 25.

The next meeting of the State Board of Education will be on Tuesday, August 14. The agenda for this meeting will be available here in early August.

>>Noteworthy News

• Groups join hands to fix Michigan schools. Will it make a difference? – Ron French, Bridge Magazine
• Can they fix education in Michigan? 30 groups to give it a shot – Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press
• Teachers join coalition of leaders to improve Michigan education – Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit News
• Unlikely Allies Have United to Improve Michigan Education – CBS Detroit

>>Tweet of the Week