How scores, staff, enrollment changed across Michigan Schools over the last decade

Districts across Michigan have added thousands of aides, teachers and administrators amid falling enrollment. But test scores have declined in most districts. Photo credit: Annie Barker for Bridge Michigan.

by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan)

In the past decade, Michigan increased spending to K-12 public education by $2.1 billion but the results have been poor to mixed, with students statewide scoring worse than they had prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s led to consternation among statewide leaders looking to boost the state’s fortunes by improving the quality of education.

But they face a widespread set of challenges: Although staffing is up in many districts, enrollment and scores are down in many as well.

• Three-quarters of Michigan school districts have added staff over the past decade, with many of the hires boosted by increased state and federal funding.
• Those additional staffers are working with fewer students — enrollment is down, from 2014 to 2023, in 73% of districts.
• Yet proficiency rates for 3rd-8th graders have fallen in 83% of districts in English and 63% of districts in math.

This is not just a problem in poor urban districts but in suburban, rural and urban districts.

Enrollment and scores are down while staff is up in the Troy, Utica, Portage and Grand Blanc school districts, to name a few, as well as Lansing, Alpena, Mount Pleasant, Howell, West Bloomfield, Jackson and Fraser.

Bridge Michigan has highlighted how Michigan has slipped markedly on national aptitude tests, falling behind states that have more poverty, less money and even longer-lasting COVID restrictions.

The decline comes 10 years after state education leaders set a goal in 2015 to make Michigan a top 10 state for education by 2025.

Since the pandemic, Michigan ranks 17th in recovery of math skills and 44th in recovery of reading skills. Students remain nearly three-quarters of a grade, on average, behind in reading compared to peers in 2019.

You can use the following chart to see how districts compare on enrollment, staffing, proficiency and chronic absenteeism. You can use the search field to find a district or a county.

Source: Bridge Michigan analysis of Michigan education data on enrollment, staffing and test scores.

This article is being republished through a syndication agreement with Bridge Michigan. Bridge Michigan is Michigan’s largest nonprofit news service and one of the nation’s leading and largest nonprofit civic news providers. Their coverage is nonpartisan, fact-based, and data-driven. Find them online at  https://www.bridgemi.com/.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.