Ed Trust-Midwest Statement on Governor Whitmer’s Executive Budget Proposal

Amber Arellano, executive director for The Education Trust-Midwest, issued the following statement on Governor Whitmer’s Executive Budget Proposal:

“Governor Whitmer’s budget proposal begins the very necessary investment in Michigan students who are among the most underserved by the state’s educational system. Such investments are critical to addressing longstanding gaps in opportunity and achievement that national research suggests are widening during the global pandemic.

“As an organization committed to making Michigan a top ten education state with a particular focus on Black and Brown students, low-income students, students with disabilities and English learners, we are heartened by these proposed investments in underserved groups of students.

“While much more investment — and structural changes to the state’s school funding system — are still needed to ensure educational recovery and address the great inequities of Michigan’s unfair public school funding system, Governor Whitmer’s fiscal year 2022 budget would make important early progress on the investment front.

These investments include:

• Prioritizing Educational Recovery Efforts: Prioritizing funds to support Michigan’s education recovery, as well as funding for two years of in-person summer learning for which we have advocated since the pandemic crisis began in spring of 2020.
• Investing in Early Childhood: Increased allocations for early childhood education through the Great Start Readiness Program.
• Expanding Post-Secondary Opportunities: Ongoing support for Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners will help make postsecondary education accessible and affordable for Michiganders as we pursue the state’s postsecondary attainment goal of 60 percent by 2030.

“We are also encouraged to see dedicated resources to addressing many of the immediate needs of the COVID recovery, including finding students who have not returned to school, recovery services for young students with disabilities, support for college completion and technical assistance for expanding best educational practices through a new investment in Launch Michigan as part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.”