Lawmakers pass a bipartisan school aid budget that invests more in students with the greatest needs
Early Friday morning, the legislature, in a bi-partisan vote, approved a school aid budget that increases funding for schools, while investing more in students who are underserved.
Importantly, the budget invests more dollars for students from low-income backgrounds by increasing the Opportunity Index by 25%, representing a $258.7 million increase. That brings the total to $1.29 billion. The Opportunity Index provides needed additional support for public school students living in school districts with high concentrations of poverty. The budget also includes a 25% increase for English Learners, a group that has long been underserved. This represents just over a $12.5 million increase, bringing the total to $62.7 million.
The budget also raises the foundation allowance by 4.6% to $10,050 per student.
“Amid an extremely tough budget cycle and tremendous federal uncertainty for our nation’s public schools, Michigan policymakers took an important step today by investing more in students who have long been underserved,” said Jennifer Mrozowski, senior director of strategic communications and external relations for EdTrust-Midwest. “The FY 26 school aid budget proposal recognizes that all students deserve access to an excellent public education, but that some students need more support to reach their full potential.”
Funding for special education received a $205 million increase, bringing the total spending for students with disabilities to $2.8 billion. More work needs to be done to fund the needs of these students, including implementation of The MI Special Education Finance Reform Blueprint, which will be presented to the legislature later this month. The budget proposal also includes $10 million for LETRS training, which provides professional development for teachers based on the science of reading. It is critical to equip teachers with these skills and empower them to become stronger teachers. Training teachers in the science of reading is a key component of the Reading for All legislation that passed last year.
These investments come at a critical time: Michigan lags leading states in early reading performance. Additionally, students from low-income backgrounds, Black and Latino students, and English Learners underperform in early reading compared to their peers.
“The proposed increases, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds and English Learners, build upon the tremendous work of our state leaders over the last two years to create a fair school funding system that meets the needs of all students,” Mrozowski said, “ Sen. Camilleri and Rep. Kelly deserve significant credit for putting politics aside and focusing on the needs of students. There’s more work to do to ensure opportunity for all students, but this school aid budget represents a major victory for Michigan’s students with the greatest needs.”
The budget passed with bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate and now goes to the Governor for her signature.
