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Opinion | Michigan’s road back to educational excellence begins before kindergarten
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Michigan’s educational decline should serve as a wake-up call for all of us.
According to the 2026 “KIDS COUNT Data Book,” Michigan now ranks 42nd in the nation in education, a dramatic fall from the national leadership position we once enjoyed. Today, nearly 75% of Michigan fourth graders are not proficient in reading, and 76% of eighth graders are not proficient in math. These numbers are not merely statistics. They represent hundreds of thousands of children whose future opportunities are being diminished and a state whose economic competitiveness is at risk.
As state leaders search for solutions to improve educational outcomes, we must confront a simple truth: Michigan cannot expect dramatically different results if we continue to focus primarily on fixing the problem after children have already fallen behind. If we want stronger literacy rates, better math skills, higher graduation rates and a more skilled workforce, our strategy must begin long before children enter elementary school.
Unfortunately, anytime I hear leaders in Michigan talk about “fixing education” the conversations focus exclusively on K-12, which is a mistake. The path back to educational excellence starts with early childhood education.
Research consistently shows that the foundation for learning is established in the first five years of life. In fact, 90% of brain development occurs before a child reaches age 5, according to First Things First. High-quality preschool experiences help children develop language, literacy, early math, social-emotional and problem-solving skills that prepare them for success throughout their educational careers.
Unfortunately, too many Michigan children are arriving at kindergarten without the skills they need to thrive. The achievement gaps that educators struggle to address in third grade and beyond often emerge before a child ever sets foot in a kindergarten classroom.
That’s exactly why Michigan’s commitment to Pre-K for all, along with federal legislation proposed by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Senator Bernie Sanders to expand Head Start and Early Head Start, may represent the most important educational investments the federal government and the state of Michigan could possibly make.
Governor Whitmer and state leaders deserve credit for recognizing that early learning is not a luxury. It is an essential component of educational success. Michigan has begun expanding access to its nationally recognized Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), with the goal of making free, high-quality preschool available to all 4-year-olds. Yet the need still outstrips the supply.
Nearly 60% of Michigan 4-year-olds are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, and roughly 40% do not attend any formal preschool at all, according to a recent report about pre-K education by the University of Michigan. Access disparities remain, particularly in rural communities and low-income neighborhoods.
Expanding access alone, however, is not enough. We must ensure that preschool programs are high quality, adequately staffed and integrated into a larger birth-to-third-grade strategy focused on literacy and learning. Preschool should not be viewed as childcare. It should be viewed as one of the country’s most powerful educational interventions.
Despite compelling evidence showing the effectiveness of high-quality preschool programs, such as Head Start and Early Head Start, the federal government recently proposed a significant overhaul of regulations governing the program that could at best water down its effectiveness, and at worst destroy the program entirely.
At MiSide Community Impact Network, we see firsthand the transformative impact of early intervention and we know that supporting children early leads to better educational outcomes, stronger families, and healthier communities. We also know that the cost of waiting is far greater than the cost of investing.
If Michigan is serious about moving from 42nd in education to becoming a top-tier educational state once again, improvements in K-12 education alone will not be enough. We need excellent teachers, strong school leadership, rigorous literacy instruction, and accountability for results. But we must also recognize that educational success starts well before kindergarten.
Michigan’s Pre-K for All initiative should not be viewed as an ancillary program. It should be viewed as a central pillar of the state’s educational recovery strategy. Head Start should not be seen as a nice to have, it should be seen as a must have for every child in America if we are to compete in the global economy.
The road to higher literacy rates, stronger math performance, increased graduation rates, and a more prosperous Michigan begins with our youngest learners. If we truly want to change the trajectory of education in this state, there is no better place to start than by ensuring every Michigan child enters kindergarten ready to succeed.
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