A classroom on the east side of Detroit was missing more than a few students this spring. On any given weekday, nearly half the seats sat empty. Teachers—many of them new, some still in training—struggled to stretch outdated reading materials across overcrowded classrooms. One educator said she counted 34 students assigned to a space designed for 22. No amount of passion could offset the silence that filled the room where textbooks and support staff should’ve been.
This is what underfunding looks like.
And as Michigan’s State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice prepares to step away from his role, he’s making it clear: public schools are making gains, but they cannot sustain them without real support from Lansing. That message was front and center during his testimony before the Michigan Senate Committee on Education, where he urged legislators to fund what’s working, fix what’s not, and stop leaving students behind.
“We have multiple goals of the Top 10 Strategic Education Plan and multiple metrics for goals. In the last few years, Michigan has improved in many areas, some of which are at historic levels,” Dr. Rice told the committee. “No one metric defines public education.”
The superintendent pointed to measurable progress under his leadership. Michigan reached its highest four-year graduation rate—82.8 percent—in 2024. Career and technical education, Advanced Placement enrollment, dual enrollment, and Early Middle College programs have all climbed beyond pre-pandemic levels. The number of students earning college-ready AP scores has grown. Teacher preparation enrollment has risen steadily since 2016, increasing 71 percent. And a long-overdue literacy and dyslexia policy was finally signed into law this year.
But these successes don’t erase decades of structural neglect. Michigan continues to rank near the bottom nationally in K-12 education. Detroit, in particular, continues to battle chronic absenteeism and widespread literacy challenges. These aren’t isolated problems. They’re symptoms of a state that has yet to fully invest in equitable education.
That was echoed on the Mackinac Island stage just weeks earlier. Both Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan publicly criticized the state’s educational standing during the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference, challenging lawmakers to meet the urgency of the moment.
Yet that urgency hasn’t reached every corner of the Capitol. While the governor’s executive budget and the Senate’s draft provide funding aligned with the Department of Education’s priorities, the Michigan House budget tells a different story. It cuts funding to programs that experts say are essential to student success, especially for Black, Brown, immigrant, and rural students.
The House proposal eliminates funding for LETRS training—Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling—despite recommendations to make that training mandatory for all K-5 teachers. It also cuts funding for high-quality early literacy materials, zeroes out transportation reimbursements that help rural and urban districts alike, and repackages key line items for English learners, career and technical education, and teacher certification into one broad block grant—an approach critics warn lacks the transparency and precision needed to support the students who need it most.
These decisions have weight. For Detroit families, funding cuts often translate directly into limited access. Fewer buses. Larger classes. Lower teacher retention. And fewer culturally competent programs that reflect students’ lived realities. For Black and Brown communities—especially those navigating the ongoing aftermath of COVID disruptions and long-standing education gaps—this is much more than policy. It’s personal.
Michigan currently ranks 44th nationally in K–12 education, according to the 2025 Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Book. That places the state near the bottom, with only six states ranking lower in fourth-grade reading on the 2024 NAEP. A decade ago, Michigan’s education position hovered closer to the middle of the pack—around the mid‑30s in national standings . In contrast, Mississippi has climbed from 48th in 2014 to 16th in this year’s rankings—leaving Michigan in its rearview. Witnessing that turnaround after nearly a decade below Michigan—and surpassing us now—is a stark reminder: this should hit lawmakers like a dagger to their conscience.
Dr. Rice’s call to legislators was clear: reverse course while there’s still time.
Among the department’s legislative requests are smaller class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms—where early reading skills are shaped. Research consistently shows that children in these classrooms benefit significantly from more individualized instruction, which is only possible with more educators and fewer students per teacher.
Another request involves reinstating in-person instructional time. Legislative changes between 2019 and 2023 reduced Michigan’s required face-to-face school days from 180 to as few as 149, once accounting for emergency closures, virtual days, and professional development that counts as instructional time. That change, though subtle on paper, has real-world consequences for students who need consistent structure to stay on track.
Funding for early literacy materials remains a non-negotiable, as does mandatory LETRS training. Dr. Rice reminded lawmakers that improving literacy starts with equipping teachers—not just with passion, but with proven tools.
Meanwhile, the state has already invested $1.1 billion across three fiscal years to confront the teacher shortage. Those dollars fund fellowships and student-teacher stipends, “Grow Your Own” programs, rural credentialing hubs, and loan repayment options for new teachers. But without a budget that continues and expands these efforts, that pipeline could dry up—leaving students with less access to certified educators, especially in districts already struggling to fill classrooms.
That’s where the moment gets more complicated.
Dr. Rice is stepping down soon, and a new superintendent will inherit both the progress and the political pressure. That means the work of lobbying lawmakers—of pushing back against cuts and pushing forward new investments—won’t end with this testimony. It’ll fall on the next leader to keep education at the top of Michigan’s legislative agenda, even as competing priorities dominate the political calendar.
But Dr. Rice’s legacy offers a roadmap. He showed that strategic investment, coupled with high expectations and accountability, can produce real outcomes. His tenure proved that with the right funding and focus, Michigan students can thrive—especially when systems are built to see their full potential.
Still, those gains won’t last without continued commitment.
In Detroit, where children often face the intersection of poverty, trauma, housing instability, and underfunded schools, these policies aren’t abstract. They’re the difference between grade-level reading and falling behind. They’re the difference between graduating with opportunity or graduating with barriers. They are the frontline of educational justice.
And Michigan’s Black press has long chronicled the disparities that make equitable education an uphill battle for too many of our families. We know that when the system fails our children, the consequences ripple across generations.
So the question is no longer whether Michigan can improve. The data shows that it can. The question is whether lawmakers will choose to continue that growth—or retreat to politics that prioritize short-term savings over long-term solutions.
Students have already done their part. Teachers have stretched thin. Parents have fought to be heard. Now it’s up to legislators to meet the moment.
Because progress without permanence is just a pause. And our communities cannot afford another reset. Not now. Not again. Not when our children are already waiting.
This budget season, the eyes of educators, advocates, and families remain fixed on Lansing. The hope is simple, but it runs deep: fund what’s working, fix what’s broken, and finally give every Michigan student—not just the privileged few—a fair shot.
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