Gretchen Whitmer says solving literacy crisis in Michigan remains her ‘No. 1 priority’

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DETROIT — Michigan is facing an “all hands on deck crisis” in literacy, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a speech to education leaders Monday.

Whitmer spoke at the Michigan Literacy Summit, attended by elected officials, school leaders and business leaders. The governor’s office and the Michigan Department of Education co-hosted the event with support from the Ballmer Group and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Whitmer said the state has made positive policy steps for literacy but more needs to be done. She said the state should continue to fund pre-K, make sure teachers have “the best training, curriculum, assessments and resources” and identify and support children who need more help.

“In the 12 months I have left as governor, literacy will remain my No. 1 priority.”

The event followed months of Bridge Michigan reporting about the state’s educational slide, which continues despite a surge of funding. Unlike other states, Michigan has failed to aggressively respond to chronic absenteeism and has abandoned reforms that worked in other states.

During Monday’s event, speakers talked about Michigan’s challenges, what the state could learn from the so-called “Mississippi miracle” academic turnaround and areas where Michigan is making progress on literacy.

“Literacy is my top priority as state superintendent,” said State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said.

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It’s a bold task.

Michigan ranked 44th in the nation for fourth grade reading on a national test in 2024, the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Third grade reading scores reached a new low on state tests too.

Yet, the scores may be the push needed to get leaders aligned on a common goal. Panelists spoke of the need to pick a goal and stick to it despite political pressure or changes in leadership.

Ron Hall, CEO of Bridgewater Interiors and board member of school reform group Launch Michigan, said the scores are “finally bad enough they’ve gotten everybody’s attention.”

David Pelc, a reading interventionist at Romulus School District, said he had been in the classroom for 20 years before he started to understand just how important “phonemic awareness” was in reading skills.

Pelc is an administrator of the Facebook group Michigan’s Science of Reading-What I Should Have Learned in College.

“Teachers need time to practice,” Pelc said. “They need to get good at this work. They need to get uncomfortable, and that’s okay, because they’re going to have support.”

A panel on the stage. — Members of a panel discuss literacy in Michigan. From left, Michelle Richard, senior literacy adviser to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, David Pelc, reading interventionist, Romulus School District, Kim Johnson, CEO and founder of Developing KIDS, Eddie Manuszak, director of early childhood education at Washtenaw Intermediate School District. (Isabel Lohman/Bridge Michigan)

Speakers said the state is building momentum with access to no-cost Pre-K, funds for teacher training and partnerships with afterschool programs.

“Literacy is not a partisan issue,” Whitmer said. “It’s not just a public sector problem. It’s an all hands on deck crisis.”

Learning from the Magnolia State

Attendees heard from speakers from Mississippi, which has gained national attention for its improvement in fourth-grade reading national rankings over several years.

Mississippi trained teachers on the “science of reading,” a body of research about how people learn to read. Michigan offers state-funded training on the science of reading but it is not mandatory for teachers to complete. Maleyko and his predecessor Michael Rice both support making a training course called Lexia LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training mandatory.

Mississippi holds back third graders who are testing poorly on a state test and uses a school accountability system where districts are graded A-F. Michigan reversed its third grade retention law in 2023 and also got rid of its A-F school grading system.

Mississippi also deployed literacy coaches to work with teachers in the lowest performing schools. In Michigan, state funding pays for literacy coaches in intermediate school districts.

In recent years, Mississippi has highly encouraged school districts to use a literacy curriculum from a list of vetted options. Michigan now has a vetted curriculum list, and school districts can apply for funding to purchase these materials.

Finally, Michigan has passed two laws aimed at ensuring teachers know the science of reading, use “evidence-based” practices in the classroom and screen students for characteristics of dyslexia. But parts of the law aren’t in full effect until the 2027-2028 school year.

Kelly Butler, former director of the Barksdale Reading Institute, a group that led several reading initiatives across Mississippi, told Michigan attendees there is hope. She said there’s already research on what works with coaching and curriculum, and now it’s about having a shared responsibility among education players to make improvements.

The summit took place at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit, in an auditorium that seats roughly 240 people.

State board of education member Nikki Snyder, R-Goodrich, told Bridge she agrees with Whitmer.

“I think that’s 100% accurate – it is an all hands on deck approach,” Snyder told Bridge. “The things that need to change and the support that teachers need for LETRS Training is number one right now. And then the things and the components that come after that, we need to just be all hands on deck.“