By Erik Edoff, Senior Executive Director, Michigan Education Association

Next year’s education budget has dominated recent headlines from the State Capitol, but zooming out to compare how Michigan schools are funded compared to other states is important to student success over time. Despite some progress over the past few years, Michigan still ranks in the bottom half of school funding nationally and investing more in our students is critical for our state’s future.

We want students to prosper — and build careers and families here in Michigan. Staying close to home or achieving success shouldn’t have to be a choice. Younger people should be able to find a good career, start a family and plant strong roots, all while staying right here in Michigan.

However, our state has fallen to the bottom half of the nation in terms of preK-12 education spending per student. This puts our kids at a disadvantage and harms our state’s ability to retain and attract residents, as well as jobs and investments.

For 2025-26 and beyond, state lawmakers must prioritize our children and Michigan’s economic future by fully investing in our public schools, so our state can close the talent gap with other states and countries.

According to a report from the governor’s nonpartisan Growing Michigan Together Council, Michigan ranks 49th in the nation in population growth since 2020. Our current population is aging, and we aren’t attracting or retaining young talent. This has put Michigan on track for a net population decline over the next 25 years, even as the rest of the nation is expected to grow by about 8%.

The Growing Michigan Together Council, comprised of business, education, labor and community leaders of every political persuasion and from every corner of the state, identified education as one of the major factors driving the state’s population decline.

“We’re failing to prepare our people for the jobs of the future and failing to ensure Michigan is the place current and future Michiganders want to call home,” the Council wrote in its final report.

One key reason is that our public school system invests considerably less per student than the national average, according to a recent report from the National Education Association.

In the 2023-24 school year, Michigan public schools spent $14,489 in combined federal, state and local funding per student, the study found, compared with a national average of $16,990.

That places Michigan 32nd nationwide in total education spending, according to the report, putting us behind Ohio ($15,436), Illinois ($21,657), Wisconsin ($16,285) and Minnesota ($16,593). Among neighboring states, only Indiana ($13,374) ranked lower than Michigan.

Thanks to efforts from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers from both parties, we’ve made progress these past few years. In the 2018-19 school year, Michigan ranked 37th in total per-pupil funding.

But progress has been slow and overall school funding still falls below what’s needed to adequately and equitably ensure every Michigan student gets a great public education, no matter where they live.

We can’t give up on Michigan’s future. This is the state that put the world on wheels and put Motown on transistor radios around the globe. We have an abundance of natural beauty, thanks to our Great Lakes, beautiful beaches, national forests and four distinct seasons. We have world-class universities and thriving arts scenes. We’re hearty, resilient people who understand the value of hard work.

Michigan has most of the ingredients in place for long-term success and population growth. However, we need to prioritize funding our public schools so that we can compete with other states and countries. When it comes to education funding, we should be leading the nation, not falling behind.

(Erik Edoff is senior executive director of the Michigan Education Association

Labor Voices

Labor Voices columns are written on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Michigan Education Association President Chandra Madafferi, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights Executive Secretary-Treasurer Tom Lutz and selected Service Employees International Union members.

(Posted as submitted to Detroit News)