LANSING (WKZO AM/FM) — Michigan’s plan to improve its public schools has earned the state a grade of incomplete from the Federal Government, under the “Every Student Succeeds Act” which was passed last year and signed by President Obama.
Michigan was the only state of the 16 that has submitted their reports that have been told the information they provided was insufficient to determine whether they are in compliance.
Superintendent Brian Whiston says he will supply the required information by next week.
Kalamazoo Superintendent Michael Rice says Michigan won’t truly begin meeting the needs of students until they begin to adequately fund education.
A study commissioned by the Governor last year showed that Michigan was underfunding its average student by about a thousand dollars and underfunding poor and special needs children by many thousands more.
He says the state then promptly buried the recommendation because it would cost aabout a billion dollars.
Dr. Rice says because the state deep-sixed it, educators in the state have formed a group called The School Funding Research Collaborative and they are working on a more comprehensive report that they plan to release in January.
He says their findings will be used to try and revise the thinking in the legislature when it comes to school funding.
