New Analyses: Michigan in Bottom Ten in Nation for School Funding Weights for Students from Low-Income Backgrounds Amid Greatest Threat to Public Education in Decades

Amid the greatest threat to public education in decades and continued sluggish recovery for Michigan student learning following the pandemic, a diverse bipartisan coalition of organizations across the state are calling on leaders on both sides of the aisle to invest in and prioritize strategies that improve outcomes for vulnerable student groups.

Their urgent call comes amid new findings released today showing that Michigan students lag the nation in key subject areas, including 4th grade reading and 8th grade math. The findings are included in the new 2025 State of Michigan Education Report, Meeting the Moment by EdTrust-Midwest, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. The report also includes a new analysis which found that in 2024-25, Michigan ranked in the bottom ten in the nation for school funding weights for students from low-income backgrounds among states with similar funding systems, despite recent progress made.

To address the longstanding underinvestment in Michigan’s schools and place Michigan on track to be a Top 10 State for Education, EdTrust-Midwest issued a three-point “Opportunity for All Plan.” The nonprofit also unveiled a new “Student Opportunity Tracker,” which tracks Michigan’s investments for students from low-income backgrounds in K-12 public schools against leading education state Massachusetts and what research recommends these students need.

The report’s findings come at a time of great uncertainly for the nation’s and Michigan’s public schools as the Trump administration has begun significant efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. The administration also reportedly is exploring major changes to federal funding, school accountability and transparency systems, and other measures designed to ensure all students have access to a great public education. At stake is $2.4 billion in crucial funding, support and oversight for Michigan’s 1.4 million public school students.

“As the federal leaders increasingly take actions which threaten funding for vulnerable students, Michigan’s underfunding of public schools becomes even more dire,” said Amber Arellano, executive director for EdTrust-Midwest. “State leaders should prioritize investing in students with the greatest needs, particularly children from low-income backgrounds, who have been hit the hardest by this underinvestment in our public schools and who are the farthest behind after the pandemic.”

Among the findings and research cited in the report:

• Michigan’s sluggish reading recovery places it in the bottom five states nationally for pandemic learning loss since 2019.
• In 2024, Michigan ranked 44th in the country for 4th grade reading and 31st for 8th grade math.
• Michigan school districts across all geographic regions are behind where they were performing in 2019 before the pandemic, according to a new analysis by EdTrust-Midwest. School districts in rural areas, suburban areas, and towns continue to show large gaps in student proficiency between 2019 and 2024.
• In 2024, on Michigan’s annual state assessment, the M-STEP, students from low-income backgrounds, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners and students with disabilities all fell at least 10 percentage points below the statewide average on both the 3rd grade reading and 7th grade math tests.
• Fewer than one in five Black students were proficient in third grade reading. In 7th grade math, the proficiency rate for Black students drops to fewer than one in 10. Similarly, fewer than one in five students with a disability were proficient in third grade reading; fewer than one in 10 were proficient in 7th grade math.

EdTrust-Midwest lauded state policymakers, including Sen. Darrin Camilleri, for efforts over the last two years to increase funding for students from low-income backgrounds. Yet researchers underscored that even before the pandemic and for many years, Michigan has been woefully underfunding Michigan’s public schools, investing significantly less funding for students with additional needs than leading education states and what research recommends.