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LANSING, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — As Governor Whitmer signed off on the state education budget this week, eyes were still on literacy scores in Michigan.
But so far, the funding doesn’t seem to be matching the results.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer put pen to paper Tuesday, signing the latest education budget.
In it, a 2.5% increase in per-pupil funding — an additional $250 per student — just slightly less than what matches inflation.
“Well, if you don’t have increases to per-pupil funding, you know, then we’re not going to see an increase to this special line,” Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said.
According to the Michigan House Fiscal Agency, there have been increases in the foundation allowance nearly every year since the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing schools to $10,300 per student in the 2027 fiscal year budget.
But while funding has gone up, scores have come down.
Based on M-STEP state testing from 2025, just 38.9% of third graders are proficient in reading. That’s the worst in the test’s 11-year history and continues consistent drops since 2021, leading to even more funding.
“It is the largest literacy investment in Michigan history,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. “This budget makes a half-a-billion-dollar investment to help every child read.”
But Whitmer says this investment comes with something fresh: A new strategy mandating what types of training are required for teachers by the 2031-32 school year.
“Not some, not most, but all reading teachers in Michigan complete training to teach students the science of reading, methods like phonics,” Whitmer said.
Phonics is a method of teaching students to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters and syllables.
“Phonics was how most of us learned how to read back in the day, and it works,” Whitmer said.
“We have phonics and teaching the teachers how to teach phonics, which is big,” Rep. Matt Hall, House Speaker, R-Richland Township, said. “People really want phonics in the schools so kids can read.”
The governor maintains that seeing better scores will be a marathon, but one she says is worth it.
“Keep doing the work, investing in students, educators and schools,” Whitmer said. “Keep striving for a brighter future for the next generation, and keep getting it done.”
