Michigan’s Public Schools Get a Bad Report Card From Research Group

A nonprofit’s report reveals the poor academic performance of state students, with the worst showings posted by poor and minority schools.

A third-grade class at Brown City Elementary in Brown City, Mich., on Jan. 28, 2022. Steven Kovac/The Epoch Times

Michigan’s K-12 education system has a “statewide pandemic recovery problem,” and more money is the answer, a nonprofit research group says.

As a result of two decades of “underinvestment,” the recovery of Michigan students from learning loss caused by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic is “not going well,” according to a 2025 State of Michigan Education Report released this month by Edtrustmidwest (ETM), a nonpartisan research, advocacy, and technical assistance group.

ETM stated that “Michigan is woefully underfunding public schools.”

From 1995–2015, Michigan was the “worst in the nation for education revenue growth,” the report said.

Ranking seventh among the 50 states, Michigan currently spends $9,608 per pupil. New Jersey leads the nation, spending $13,946 per student, according to the report.

The learning loss is reflected by the continued poor academic performance of Michigan’s K–12 students.

ETM researchers put Michigan in the bottom five of the 50 states for post-pandemic reading recovery, as measured from 2019 to the present.

Nebraska experienced the greatest learning loss and Hawaii the least. Louisiana experienced no learning loss during the same period, according to the report.

Students Lag in Reading and Math

The report revealed that Michigan’s third- through eighth-graders are 40 percent of a grade level behind in math and 75 percent of a grade level behind in reading from where they were in 2019.

In the 2023–2024 school year, ETM found that 60.4 percent of all Michigan third-graders were nonproficient in reading.

Nearly 68 percent of seventh-grade students were found to be nonproficient in math during the same year.

In 2024, Michigan’s fourth-graders were 44th in reading, and its eighth-graders ranked 31st in math among the 50 states.

According to the report, one out of every eight Michigan students entering college is required to take remedial courses to make up for deficiencies in their high school education.

The number is double for black students.

Supt. Doug Muxlow of Carsonville-Port Sanilac Community Schools, Carsonville, Mich. Courtesy of Doug Muxlow

The ETM report also warned of the potential impact of the Trump administration’s quest to do away with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).

The report found that federal funding of Michigan schools amounted to $3.7 billion and accounted for 13.8 percent of their budgets in 2023.

According to the report, federal dollars are used by Michigan school districts to pay for things that the state does not fully fund, such as programs for disabled students, English learners, and even first-time applicants for college loans.

In a March 20 statement, DOE Secretary Linda McMahon reassured the public, saying,“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs.”

ETM researchers found that, beyond financial support, the DOE benefits Michigan schools by collecting and analyzing useful data concerning education. The DOE also serves as a source of oversight and accountability to school districts to ensure equity in the use of grant funds, they said.

Racial and Income Disparities

In the 2023–2024 school year, 83.4 percent of black third-graders in Michigan tested nonproficient in reading. The rate was 53.3 percent for white third-graders.

During the same year, 90.6 percent of black seventh-graders tested nonproficient in math, while the nonproficiency rate among white seventh-graders was 61.1 percent, according to the report.

According to data from the 2023-2024 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress cited in the ETM report, 57.1 percent of third-graders with higher income backgrounds tested proficient in reading, while 26.9 percent of third-graders from low-income backgrounds tested proficient in reading.

The same test found that 48.9 percent of seventh-graders from higher income brackets were proficient in math. By contrast, 18.1 percent of seventh-graders from low-income backgrounds were proficient in math.

The Most Needy

According to the ETM report, nine states provide their highest poverty-rate school districts with between 10 percent and 40 percent more state funding than their low poverty-rate school districts. Michigan is not one of them.

“For many years, Michigan’s school funding formula mandated an additional 11.5 percent in what is called ‘at-risk’ funding on top of the foundation allowance—or base student spending —for students from low-income backgrounds. Yet that amount was often underfunded, with districts receiving on average only 9 percent per student more in additional ‘at risk’ funding,” the report said.

ETM said its research suggests that students from low-income backgrounds should receive between “100 and 200 percent more funding than their peers from more advantaged backgrounds to close gaps in opportunity and outcomes.”

Michael Rice, the state superintendent of schools, told The Epoch Times that despite historic investments in education in recent years, “Our schools remain underfunded by billions of dollars.”

Beyond an increase in funding, Rice said other reforms are needed to improve student achievement, particularly in low-income schools, such as smaller class sizes in K-3 high-poverty classrooms and better teacher training in the science of reading.

Rice pointed to a few bright spots like a rise in the high school graduation rate and the rate of postsecondary credential attainment, as well as large increases in the number of black and Latino high school students taking and completing Advanced Placement classes.

A View From the Ground

Superintendent Doug Muxlow of Carsonville-Port Sanilac Community Schools, a district in rural Michigan serving just over 400 K-12 students, told The Epoch Times that the financial impact of declining enrollment is probably the biggest concern of most Michigan school systems.

Muxlow said that the reduction of revenue resulting from a loss of students, when coupled with the annual rise in expenses due to inflation, can result in a district breaking even or sometimes losing ground, despite increases in the state’s contribution per student.

“Our state’s small town and rural school districts are typically low-income. They are really struggling with the financial challenges stemming from enrollment decline.

“Michigan does have a small program to help deal with this by giving additional dollars to school districts losing enrollment, but it needs to be greatly expanded,” said Muxlow.

Muxlow said learning loss from the COVID-19 lockdowns is not a major factor in his district.

“Socio-economic factors are huge when it comes to disparities in academic achievement. For example, there are some students in our district whose families still do not have internet access at home,” he said.

He also said the dismantling of the DOE would have a minor impact on Carsonville-Port Sanilac Community Schools.