EdTrust-Midwest’s three-point action plan aims to put Michigan back on track to becoming a Top 10 Education State

EdTrust-Midwest’s 2025 State of Michigan Education Report, Meeting the Moment, includes important new data and research on how Michigan leaders can meet the moment amid this turbulent period for public schools. In conjunction with the report, we issued a three-point “Opportunity for All Plan” to address the longstanding underinvestment in Michigan’s schools and place Michigan on track to be a Top 10 State for Education.

The Opportunity for All plan calls on state leaders to:

1. Invest Now, and Wisely
2. Implement Stronger Systems of Fiscal Transparency and Accountability
3. Innovate for the Future

Invest Now, and Wisely
Today, there are significant new opportunities to change Michigan’s trajectory and put it on course to catch up with leading states. The Opportunity Index –a transformative new funding structure that legislators placed into state law in 2023– has the potential to start addressing both the deep inequities of Michigan’s public school funding system and ensure investment for students who need it most, regardless of geographic location.

That could make a transformational difference for Michigan’s students because research shows that money matters in education, especially for students from low-income backgrounds.

In 2013, California implemented the Local Control Funding Formula and dramatically overhauled its school funding formula and committed $18 billion dollars over a period of eight years to be allocated based on students’ needs.13 In a 2023 evaluation of the Local Control Funding Formula, researchers found that an investment of just an additional $1,000 per pupil for three consecutive years improved students’ math and reading  achievement, reduced the likelihood of repeating a grade, decreased suspensions and expulsions, and increased the likelihood of high school graduation and college and career readiness.

California’s example demonstrates the power of substantial, targeted, and sustained investments to improve student achievement – a lesson Michigan policymakers would be wise to heed. Unfortunately, Michigan’s Opportunity Index is currently underfunded by more than $2 billion
dollars.

To start to make a transformational difference, state lawmakers should fund the Opportunity Index to the levels in state law in the next five years. State legislators should also ensure that the level of federal funding for vulnerable student groups is preserved amid any changes to the U.S. Department of Education.

Implement Stronger Systems of Fiscal Transparency and Accountability
While Michigan leaders should undoubtedly invest more into the state’s public education system, that investment should come with increased transparency. Greater investment – and a greater return on that investment – is more important than ever in the face of globalization, deindustrialization in Michigan, and a slow pandemic recovery.

Putting into place stronger systems of fiscal transparency and accountability will become even more important if federal funding for vulnerable students is instead funneled to states in the form of block grants, which often lack transparency and accountability for how the money is spent.

Innovate for the Future
To truly get more from our public education system, we also must realign and redesign our expectations for what students should achieve by high school graduation, and we can look to leading states for positive examples of what’s possible.

The last time Michigan evaluated and updated its curriculum standards in 2006, it resulted in the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) – a forward-looking set of college and career ready standards.15 Although the MMC was never fully implemented as designed, it still resulted in increased college-going,16 increased math-course taking, and improvements in science ACT scores.17 Michigan can now follow the example of leading education states in crafting a new Michigan Education Guarantee – one that ensures Michigan students graduate high school prepared for a successful future.

For instance, Michigan can follow the lead of Indiana in creating a transferable College Core and provide all students with access to at least one year of college-level classes in high school at low or no cost to families.18 Such a goal could be achieved, in part, through the expansion of dual credit opportunities and improved access to advanced coursework opportunities.