Fact check: Michigan school funding at historic highs. Is that enough?

Michigan increased funding for schools significantly in the past 10 years, only nine states have done so faster
While per-pupil funding ranks in the top half among states; educators say schools are grossly underfunded
Michigan had deep education cuts 20 years ago that some say still impact classrooms

Michigan schools are at record funding. Can they also be severely underfunded?

That’s the crux of a debate statewide, as third-grade English scores plunged to an all-time low and a national standardized test ranks Michigan 44th among all states for fourth grade reading.

In the past 10 years, in fact, only nine states have grown funding for K-12 schools at a faster rate than Michigan, increasing in that time by an inflation-adjusted $2.5 billion.

“The issue of education quality is not funding,” said James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market, nonprofit think tank.

But teacher groups, some education advocates and others argue schools don’t have nearly enough money. A study by the Education Law Center claims schools need another $4.5 billion per year atop the $21 billion K-12 budget.

A ballot measure is afoot to ask voters to raise $1.5 billion more per year for schools by raising taxes on individuals making $500,000 and couples earning $1 million per year.

“We’re not recovered, we’re 20 years behind,” said Molly Sweeney, executive director of 482Forward, a nonprofit working to improve education for Detroiters who is also working on the ballot measure.

She contended that school funding cuts more than a decade ago contributed to today’s teacher shortages.

Conclusions likely come down to ideology. Some facts driving the debate:

Michigan ranks in the top half of states for per-pupil funding, at an average of $17,535 per student on K-12 education in 2022-23; 17 states spend more, 32 spend less.
Schools have more money to teach fewer kids. State funding is up 10%, adjusted for inflation, in the past decade, and overall funding is up over 20%. During that time, enrollment fell 8% to 1.37 million.
But not all money makes it to classrooms: Nearly a third of Michigan schools’ payroll goes to pay pensions of retired teachers. The national average is less than 20%.
Michigan’s poorer districts have significantly more needs. One study claims the state ranks toward the bottom nationally in funding lower-income schools.

When to start comparisons?

Advocates who say schools are underfunded typically make their case by comparing funding to 2000, when Michigan ranked the top 10 among states in per-pupil spending.

At the time, Michigan’s economy was humming, reaching its historic peak employment of 5 million. State coffers were swollen and lawmakers increased the K-12 budget by 6.5%

That was nearly double the inflation rate and well above a separate inflationary measure used to compare government spending.

After a healthy funding increase in 2001, the bottom fell out and Michigan slid into a nearly decade-long recession. In 11 of the next 12 years, school funding was below the rate of inflation.

From 2003 to 2010, state funding for K-12 schools fell by nearly $630 million in actual dollars — and by more than $3.5 billion when adjusted for inflation.

The impact of those cuts endures, some say, and are a partial cause of the teacher shortage that exists.

But for the past 10 years, funding is up again: $6.6 billion in actual funding, or over 55%, from 2014 to the 2024-25 school year.

Adjusted for government inflation, it’s still up 24% (and nearly 27% when compared to the rise in consumer prices.)

Hohman of the Mackinac Center said districts have had years to right-size and adjust to funding decisions made before many students were even born.

“I don’t think it’s fair to complain about cuts that happened 15 years ago,” Hohman said.

Related:

The Mackinac Center, using federal education spending data, estimates that total K-12 funding, including federal, state and local revenue sources, now equates to $23,665 a year, per pupil.

“That’s a lot of revenue to accomplish the state’s education goals,” Hohman said. “Schools are a priority and they remain a priority.”

Much of federal spending, and some state funding, is tied to the number of at-risk students in each district, including those who are low-income, have disabilities or are English learners. That money is used to provide additional services and hire extra staff.

For example, Flint Community Schools, where 93% of students are low income, got over $45,350 per pupil in the 2023-24 school year, according to federal education data compiled by the Mackinac Center.

Nearby the Grand Blanc schools, where just under half of students are low income, the total was $19,004 per pupil.

Is it enough?

Advocates acknowledge that recent funding increases only begin to address the damage caused by years of underinvestment.

“Have we made progress in the last three years? Absolutely,” said Doug Pratt, director of public affairs for the Michigan Education Association union.

“We’ve made progress but when you look at the hole we were in … We’re really not making up the ground.”

He said the deep hole of the 2000s remains relevant, because the cuts led to staffing reductions, higher class sizes and pay cuts and freezes for teachers. Those prompted qualified teachers to leave the workforce, creating staffing shortages that led to a less experienced teacher workforce, Pratt said.

Even though per pupil funding is up, districts can have a hard time easily accommodating them, said Tanner Delpier, a labor economist for the Michigan Education Association.

If a district loses, for instance, 20 students, that would be a loss of about $200,000 in state funding. But if those students were a couple for each grade, it might be difficult to trim a teacher or two to equal the loss of funding.

“That per pupil (funding) only tells part of the story,” he said.