Michigan
U.S.
Rank
Score:
88%
Grade:
B
Rank:
#4
A pioneer in authorizing with strong university participation, Michigan’s charters are serving diverse populations and bringing families needed choices, but they get heat for the multiple approaches and providers they deploy and are regularly attacked by the unions and many in the media despite their success.
Law passed: 1993
Most recently amended: 2018
Number of charter schools: 377
Number of charter students: 144,258
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No
Virtual charters allowed? Yes
AUTHORIZERS: Variety of authorizers, including local school boards, intermediate school boards, community colleges, and state public universities which authorize the majority of charter schools here. Active university authorizers in Michigan are Bay Mills Community College, Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Lake Superior State University, Northern Michigan University, Oakland University, and Saginaw Valley State University. Together they authorize 224 schools. All authorized charters are subject to review by the state board of education for compliance with the law.
GROWTH: The number of charter schools increased from 300 to 377 between 2018 and 2020 but enrollment went down, though, from 146,000 to 144,000. The law allows a virtual/cyber school to serve up to 2,500 students in its first year of operation, not more than 5,000 students in its second year of operation, and not more than 10,000 students in its third and subsequent years of operation. The law provides that the total statewide enrollment in virtual schools may not exceed 2% of the state’s public school student population.
OPERATIONS: Schools must request a waiver from specific regulations as opposed to a blanket waiver. Most requests are granted, however. Authorizers are free from the laws and regulations of the state education department also.
EQUITY: Charters receive the same allowance per pupil as traditional public schools, but no per-pupil or local facilities funding. Per statute, charter schools receive a “foundation allowance” from the state and generally have equal access to categorical funding. These provisions should result in 100% of state and school district operations funding following each student. In reality, the amount of foundation allowance is dependent on the district in which the charter school is located, as Michigan law provides that charter schools must receive the same foundation as the district in which they are located or a state maximum foundation allowance, whichever is less. This approach results in the majority of charters receiving a smaller foundation allowance from the state than the local district in which they are located. Michigan law requires intermediate school districts to share regional enhancement property tax dollars with charter schools on an equitable basis.
Michigan law does not provide transportation funding to either school districts or charter schools.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#39
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#21
Generally lacking in teacher preparation rigor, including subject-matter knowledge requirements. Collects student growth data to measure effectiveness of teacher prep programs.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 72%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 60%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 78%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 88%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 79%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 83%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 65%
Score:
88%
Grade:
B
Rank:
#4
A pioneer in authorizing with strong university participation, Michigan’s charters are serving diverse populations and bringing families needed choices, but they get heat for the multiple approaches and providers they deploy and are regularly attacked by the unions and many in the media despite their success.
Law passed: 1993
Most recently amended: 2018
Number of charter schools: 377
Number of charter students: 144,258
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No
Virtual charters allowed? Yes
AUTHORIZERS: Variety of authorizers, including local school boards, intermediate school boards, community colleges, and state public universities which authorize the majority of charter schools here. Active university authorizers in Michigan are Bay Mills Community College, Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Lake Superior State University, Northern Michigan University, Oakland University, and Saginaw Valley State University. Together they authorize 224 schools. All authorized charters are subject to review by the state board of education for compliance with the law.
GROWTH: The number of charter schools increased from 300 to 377 between 2018 and 2020 but enrollment went down, though, from 146,000 to 144,000. The law allows a virtual/cyber school to serve up to 2,500 students in its first year of operation, not more than 5,000 students in its second year of operation, and not more than 10,000 students in its third and subsequent years of operation. The law provides that the total statewide enrollment in virtual schools may not exceed 2% of the state’s public school student population.
OPERATIONS: Schools must request a waiver from specific regulations as opposed to a blanket waiver. Most requests are granted, however. Authorizers are free from the laws and regulations of the state education department also.
EQUITY: Charters receive the same allowance per pupil as traditional public schools, but no per-pupil or local facilities funding. Per statute, charter schools receive a “foundation allowance” from the state and generally have equal access to categorical funding. These provisions should result in 100% of state and school district operations funding following each student. In reality, the amount of foundation allowance is dependent on the district in which the charter school is located, as Michigan law provides that charter schools must receive the same foundation as the district in which they are located or a state maximum foundation allowance, whichever is less. This approach results in the majority of charters receiving a smaller foundation allowance from the state than the local district in which they are located. Michigan law requires intermediate school districts to share regional enhancement property tax dollars with charter schools on an equitable basis.
Michigan law does not provide transportation funding to either school districts or charter schools.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#39
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#21
Generally lacking in teacher preparation rigor, including subject-matter knowledge requirements. Collects student growth data to measure effectiveness of teacher prep programs.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 72%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 60%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 78%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 88%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 79%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 83%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 65%
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#23
The Michigan Department of Education has a few statewide initiatives to support the transformation to digital learning. These include educational technology grants, the Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students (MITECS), MI Roadmap, MI Future Ready Schools, and #GoOpenMichigan to promote the collaboration between schools across the state to share and access open education resources (OER).
The Michigan State Education Network was established with the goal to “connect 100% of Michigan’s ISDs, LEAs, and PSAs with the networking capacity needed to ensure that teachers and students never see bandwidth as a barrier to achieving their goals in the classroom.”
Michigan Virtual is a statewide virtual school that opened in 2001, and serves middle and high school students. Michigan Virtual does not award students with credits or diplomas, but grants certificates that are accepted in school districts.The school offers over 200 online high school courses, and 40 middle school courses, including world languages, forensic science, and leadership development.16,919 students were enrolled in the 2018-19 school year.
Michigan’s Utica Community Schools are a part of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving over 28,000 students digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.
Bandwidth: 95.2% of students in Michigan can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 62,021 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.
Grants to promote personalized learning are helping districts evolve and empowering parents. In 2017, Michigan launched the Competency-Based Education Grant Pilot so districts can explore ways to promote competency-based learning and help build career and college readiness in high school students.
Additionally, one of the goals in Michigan’s statewide Top10In10Years Framework is to “develop and implement a collaborative, integrated, and transparent P-20 personalized learning system for each student in districts and schools.”
Gov. Whitmer announced on March 12th that schools would close for four weeks. This closure was extended on April 2nd for the remainder of the school year. Guidelines were issued on March 18th.
State officials took steps to ensure students were continuing to learn and have access to devices and the internet. They also offered professional development for teachers, gave guidance on learning plans, including ESL and special needs, and provided resources on a new website.
As part of their COVID resource page, a Family Engagement toolkit was provided to help distance learning. Michigan lacked a statewide plan to expand device/internet access.
The reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year was developed by a working group that started meeting in early May. The guidelines are published here.
Amidst union protests, Gov. Whitmer permitted schools to reopen for the fall; and some districts opted into online learning for the beginning of the fall term.
Fast Facts
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#23
The Michigan Department of Education has a few statewide initiatives to support the transformation to digital learning. These include educational technology grants, the Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students (MITECS), MI Roadmap, MI Future Ready Schools, and #GoOpenMichigan to promote the collaboration between schools across the state to share and access open education resources (OER).
The Michigan State Education Network was established with the goal to “connect 100% of Michigan’s ISDs, LEAs, and PSAs with the networking capacity needed to ensure that teachers and students never see bandwidth as a barrier to achieving their goals in the classroom.”
Michigan Virtual is a statewide virtual school that opened in 2001, and serves middle and high school students. Michigan Virtual does not award students with credits or diplomas, but grants certificates that are accepted in school districts.The school offers over 200 online high school courses, and 40 middle school courses, including world languages, forensic science, and leadership development.16,919 students were enrolled in the 2018-19 school year.
Michigan’s Utica Community Schools are a part of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving over 28,000 students digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.
Bandwidth: 95.2% of students in Michigan can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 62,021 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.
Grants to promote personalized learning are helping districts evolve and empowering parents. In 2017, Michigan launched the Competency-Based Education Grant Pilot so districts can explore ways to promote competency-based learning and help build career and college readiness in high school students.
Additionally, one of the goals in Michigan’s statewide Top10In10Years Framework is to “develop and implement a collaborative, integrated, and transparent P-20 personalized learning system for each student in districts and schools.”
Gov. Whitmer announced on March 12th that schools would close for four weeks. This closure was extended on April 2nd for the remainder of the school year. Guidelines were issued on March 18th.
State officials took steps to ensure students were continuing to learn and have access to devices and the internet. They also offered professional development for teachers, gave guidance on learning plans, including ESL and special needs, and provided resources on a new website.
As part of their COVID resource page, a Family Engagement toolkit was provided to help distance learning. Michigan lacked a statewide plan to expand device/internet access.
The reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year was developed by a working group that started meeting in early May. The guidelines are published here.
Amidst union protests, Gov. Whitmer permitted schools to reopen for the fall; and some districts opted into online learning for the beginning of the fall term.
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Gretchen Whitmer (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is solidly pro education establishment and anti-parent power though her actions post Covid-19 were promising. But when Republicans in the Legislature attempted to pass a voucher plan Whitmer vetoed the bills, arguing the plan violates the Michigan Constitution and the 1970 Blaine Amendment, which prohibits public money from going to private schools. Clearly, the Governor is not up on her Supreme Court decisions regarding education and religious freedom.
Michigan’s legislature is supportive of education opportunity. Both houses have had to combat the Governor’s attempts to defund charter schools, for example. The state’s constitution has been interpreted to prohibit parental choice among private schools so the legislature should refocus itself on more Innovative approaches to teaching and learning across the state.
Michigan has two Blaine Amendments, including one of the strictest in the country that has historically been interpreted to foreclose the enactment of educational choice programs.
School report cards are easily accessible from the Michigan DOE homepage under School Performance and Supports. The Parent Dashboard for School Transparency provides important data on student performance, student progress, graduation, college & career readiness, and more. Data is formatted in clear, colorful charts and easy to understand. Charts also include data from previous school years, a great feature for measuring annual school progress. Additionally, educational options are directly on the DOE homepage under Flexible Learning Options which is a plus for transparency.
School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.
Gretchen Whitmer (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is solidly pro education establishment and anti-parent power though her actions post Covid-19 were promising. But when Republicans in the Legislature attempted to pass a voucher plan Whitmer vetoed the bills, arguing the plan violates the Michigan Constitution and the 1970 Blaine Amendment, which prohibits public money from going to private schools. Clearly, the Governor is not up on her Supreme Court decisions regarding education and religious freedom.
Michigan’s legislature is supportive of education opportunity. Both houses have had to combat the Governor’s attempts to defund charter schools, for example. The state’s constitution has been interpreted to prohibit parental choice among private schools so the legislature should refocus itself on more Innovative approaches to teaching and learning across the state.
Michigan has two Blaine Amendments, including one of the strictest in the country that has historically been interpreted to foreclose the enactment of educational choice programs.
School report cards are easily accessible from the Michigan DOE homepage under School Performance and Supports. The Parent Dashboard for School Transparency provides important data on student performance, student progress, graduation, college & career readiness, and more. Data is formatted in clear, colorful charts and easy to understand. Charts also include data from previous school years, a great feature for measuring annual school progress. Additionally, educational options are directly on the DOE homepage under Flexible Learning Options which is a plus for transparency.
School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.