(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/29/2025)MIRS has learned that the Governor is set to announce next Wednesday, at her budget presentation, investments in "direct reporting to parents." It will feature funding proposals to improve dashboards, parental engagement at school board meetings and district awards for "implementing best practices."  

For the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, MIRS learned that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will introduce a "SMART on education" funding plan for K-12 spending, standing for "Students, Metrics And Results with Transparency."  

Although MIRS did not obtain specific numbers, it was revealed Whitmer wants to raise the per-pupil foundation allowance to a new record high, which was $9,608 per pupil in the current FY 2025 budget. 

Republicans gave Democrats flack after last year's budget-making season for reducing mental health and school safety grant program funding by $301.5 million, which was designed in 2023 by making $328 million available to both public and private schools for mental health services and safety upgrades.  

Now, for FY 2026, Whitmer is preparing to propose "the largest amount of ongoing funding in Michigan's history to support student mental health and protect kids." She is also expected to propose a historically large investment in career and technical education.  

Career and technical education – which focuses on giving students hands-on occupational skills for specific professions, like construction and healthcare – received a $39.9 million investment last year for programs.  

Another major highlight in Whitmer's upcoming education budget proposal is "literacy."  

In October 2024, Whitmer signed legislation requiring young students to be screened preemptively for traits of dyslexia and struggles around decoding words. Within the next three years, public schools must offer students a "multi-tiered system of support," offering small-group and individualized programming for flagged students.  

MIRS learned that Whitmer wants to build on this. 

In last year's budget, $87 million was set aside to create a committee of early literacy education professionals, responsible for researching learning tools and distributing funding to public school districts based on their instruction measures and how effective they are. 

Although specifics around Whitmer's proposal are still developing, she is expected to call for doubling literacy grants to districts, as well as to designate funding toward ensuring every intermediate school district in the state has at least two literacy coaches.  

Also, for the current FY 2025, $42 million was dedicated to providing early literacy coaches to assist teachers with developing and implementing instructional strategies for Pre-K through fifth graders. When the budget was made – the former HB 5507 of last term – the Michigan Department of Education was directed to spend no more than $125,000 for each intermediate district to support two early literacy coaches. 

Wednesday's ideas follow the recent release of the Nation's Report Card, reviewing National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams with the reading scale ranging from zero to 500. In 2024, the average reading assessment score for Michigan fourth graders was 209, with 25 percent of students performing at or above the proficient level – a decrease from 28 percent in 2022.