Equity Edition: Bipartisan Budget Maintains Per-Pupil Funding and Includes One-Time Per-Student Increase

More must be done in future budget cycles to address structural inequities and meet the needs of at-risk students, students with disabilities, English learners and other historically underserved student groups.

Today, the Michigan House of Representatives and State Senate will consider Senate Bill 927 to fund public education in Michigan through September 30, 2021. Despite the fiscal uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, state leaders prioritized public education and proposed to maintain per-pupil funding and funding for vulnerable student groups at the levels funded last year. The budget also includes a one-time per-pupil increase of roughly $65.

The following statement was issued by Amber Arellano, executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest:

“Today’s bipartisan agreement to protect education funding amid an urgent fiscal crisis driven by COVID-19 has taken bold leadership from Governor Whitmer and legislative leaders. We applaud their efforts to put partisan politics aside for the betterment of all Michigan’s students.

“A similar bipartisan focus now must be a priority to address the structural inequities in Michigan’s school funding system, particularly to avoid worsening the devastating opportunity and achievement gaps that were prevalent long before the school shutdowns this past spring. We need a new – and better – normal for Michigan children, especially for vulnerable students.

“We also urge state leaders to ensure greater funding accountability and transparency moving forward to inform future spending decisions and to assure that funding meant for vulnerable students truly reaches and benefits the students for whom those dollars are intended.”

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Ensuring equitable access to postsecondary opportunities is a key recommendation of The Education Trust-Midwest’s recent report, A Marshall Plan: Reimagining Michigan Public Education.  In addition, our organization submitted testimony the state House Education Committee for the following bills that would advance important policies for ensuring that postsecondary education is within reach for students.

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House Resolution 234 urges Congress to lift the harmful ban on access to the Pell Grant for students in prison. We support this resolution, as we believe that students who are incarcerated should have the opportunity through postsecondary education to change their lives and the lives of their families.

The evidence is clear: higher education in prison pays healthy dividends to incarcerated students, to prison culture and to the broader public. Higher education is the surest path to social mobility, opportunity, and reducing reincarceration rates. Expanding access to quality higher education can be transformative for individuals impacted by the criminal justice system.

Bipartisan federal legislation to lift the ban on Pell Grants for prison education will help returning citizens succeed when they come home and make our communities stronger and safer.

We thank the Michigan House of Representatives for passing this important resolution this week.

House Bills 6171 and 6172 address important challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that this pandemic does not negatively impact the ability for Michigan students to finance their postsecondary education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a highly disruptive, direct impact on postsecondary education and prompted uncertainty about the school year now underway. The health and related economic crisis also may have an impact on postsecondary enrollment. House Bill 6171 addresses this reality by temporarily extending the time period that eligible students have for using tuition grants for up to two additional semesters, if they are currently enrolled and were enrolled last spring.

Another educational impact of the pandemic last spring was the cancellation of year-end assessments. This includes the SAT, provided by the State annually to high school juniors during the school day. Among other uses, student SAT scores are part of the qualifying criteria for the need and merit-based Michigan Competitive Scholarship.

Under House Bill 6172, scholastic achievement may be used to temporarily replace the competitive scholarship eligibility requirement, usually satisfied by SAT score, for scholarship award eligibility during the 2020-2021 school year. The legislation also temporarily extends by one year the time period that scholarship recipients have to completely spend their scholarship, for students enrolled this academic year and last spring.

Under House Bill 6172, scholastic achievement may be used to temporarily replace the competitive scholarship eligibility requirement, usually satisfied by SAT score, for scholarship award eligibility during the 2020-2021 school year. The legislation also temporarily extends by one year the time period that scholarship recipients have to completely spend their scholarship, for students enrolled this academic year and last spring.

Michigan’s students, families and communities are best served when postsecondary opportunities are available and accessible. House Resolution 234 and House Bills 6171 and 6172 would all help to address barriers to postsecondary accessibility to Michigan students. We urge you to support these efforts and thank you for your focus on this important topic.

House Bills 6171 and 6172 are expected to have a second hearing before the House Education Committee on Thursday.

As Michigan students have begun a new school year during such unprecedented times amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to work together to ensure our most vulnerable students are receiving the necessary supports to accelerate in their learning.

The pandemic has magnified the funding gaps in education between the most affluent school districts and the highest-poverty school districts across the state. Children of color, low-income students, English learners, students with disabilities and rural students continue to be disproportionately impacted by the extraordinary educational challenges brought about by this health and economic crisis.

The Time is Now to take collective action to further educational equity.

Together with civil rights, civil and business partners, we have launched the Opportunity for All campaign to create a more fair and equitable educational system in Michigan. Your support of is invaluable to these efforts.

How to engage now:

We invite you to take the first action in our Opportunity for All Campaign by signing our Fair Funding pledge. You should soon expect to receive follow-up alerts with advocacy opportunities.

The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet in the House Appropriations room of the Capitol building on Thursday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. or after session. Agenda:

House Bills 6171–6172, which would extend the period of time that state tuition grants and competitive scholarships may be used for students enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic last spring and this year. Qualification criteria for competitive scholarships would also be temporarily adjusted to reflect the cancellation of the Spring 2020 SAT. The Education Trust-Midwest supports these bills.

House Bill 4174, which would exempt certain apprenticeship programs from occupational school regulations.

• Parents worried virtual learning won’t do enough for Michigan’s children with disabilities, Eleanore Catolico, Chalkbeat Detroit
• Michigan parents turn to ‘learning pods’ amid pandemic, Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit News
• As Schools Go Remote, Finding ‘Lost’ Students Gets Harder, Abby Goodnough, New York Times
• What We Know About Coronavirus Cases in K-12 Schools So Far, Yuriria Avila, Weiyi Cai, Barbara Harvey, Juliette Love, Eleanor Lutz, Alex Leeds Matthews and Kate Taylor, New York Times