Facts

Facts v Fallacy

Thanks for your interested in the three‑part MEA Voice “Facts v Fallacy” series.  Here you’ll find links to the stories from the magazine, as well as related source information and links for those wanting a more in-depth look at the issues.

Part I: School Performance

MEA Labor Economist Tanner Delpier tells stories with data. The tale he tells of public education in Michigan runs counter to the message heard far too often in sound bites on the news. We continually hear that public schools are “failing,” despite “record” state funding, because educators lack “accountability.”

“None of that is true,” Delpier says.  Read the full story here from the December 2025-January 2026 MEA Voice.

Part II: School Funding 

Feb. 2026: When it comes to analyzing improvement in Michigan school funding, a lot depends on when you start looking. Why start in 2012, for example? The answer is simple: when compared to bottomed-out K-12 spending in that year, gains since then look unprecedented. But further pulling back the curtain from 2012 to 2002 reveals the true trendline.

“There was a massive decline from 2002 to 2014, and earlier funding levels have not yet been restored,” says MEA Labor Economist Tanner Delpier. “While the state is no longer at the lowest funding level in history, (school) funding remains 32% below that early 2000s peak — a gap amounting to about $10.4 billion. The truth is that funding has dropped sharply since Proposal A in 1994.”

Read the full story here from the February-March 2026 MEA Voice.

Part III: School Policy

Coming in April-May MEA Voice