1 Mich Const, Art. VIII, § 2.
2 Mich Const, Art. VIII, § 1.
3 Mich Const, Art. VIII, § 1.
4 MCL § 380.10.
5 Julie Mack, “Record Low Birth Rate Puts Pressure on Michigan’s K-12 Schools” (MLive.com, Oct. 27, 2019), https://perma.cc/S9XK-YWME; Harley Harding, “More People Died in Michigan in 2020 Than Were Born. Impacts Could be Severe” (The Detroit News, Jan. 26, 2022), https://perma.cc /5HC9-V35S.
6 For instance, see “Editorial: Only in-person schools deserve relief funds,” (The Detroit News, March 20, 2021, https://perma.cc/9L4S-M43W; Ben DeGrow, “Massive COVID Funding Cries Out for Creative Uses” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Dec. 21, 2021), https://perma.cc/3TPP-SGRL.
7 “Number of Public School Districts in Michigan” (Michigan Department of Education),https://perma.cc/RW5J-AU73.
8 “Pupil Membership History: FY 1994-95 to FY 2021-22” (Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, Jan. 14, 2020), https://perma.cc/DHC3-HPWE.
9 Author’s calculations based on data from the Center for Educational Performance and Information, https://perma.cc/ Y9SD-9QF4 and “Pupil Membership History: FY 1994-95 to FY 2021-22” (Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, Jan. 14, 2020), https://perma.cc/DHC3-HPWE.
10 “Student Enrollment Count Report” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischooldata.org/ student-enrollment-counts-report.
11 For example, see Valerie Strauss, "How Charter Schools in Michigan Have Hurt Traditional Public Schools, New Research Finds" (Washington Post, July 15, 2016), https://perma.cc/KH93-YT85.
12 “Historical Student Enrollment Counts Data” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mi schooldata.org/historical-student-enrollment-counts-data-file.
13 “Pupil Membership History: FY 1994-95 to FY 2021-22” (Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, Jan. 14, 2020), https://perma. cc/DHC3-HPWE. Facilities data downloaded from “Public Data Sets” (Educational Entity Master, Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://cepi.state.mi.us/ eem/PublicDatasets.aspx.
14 Koby Levin, “Michigan lost 62,000 students this fall. Black enrollment fell 5%” (Chalkbeat Detroit, March 16, 2021), https://perma.cc/DAB4-FLHP; “Student Enrollment Count Report” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischooldata.org/historical-student-enrollment-counts-data-file.
15 Author’s calculation based on "National Public Education Financial Survey (State Fiscal), 1993-94 (FY 1994) v.1b” and “National Public Education Financial Survey, Fiscal Year 2019-20” (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data). Inflation adjustments made using the Consumer Price Index, https://inflationdata.com/ Inflation/Consumer_Price_Index/HistoricalCPI.aspx.
16 Author’s calculation based on “Financial Reports: FID Data Files” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischooldata.org/historical-financial-reports. Total includes all property tax revenues reported by LEA districts for the general fund.
17 Author’s calculations based on 2019-20 National Public Education Financial Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data.
18 Author’s calculations based on NPEFS 2019-20 data from NCES and Historical Student Enrollment Counts Data from CEPI.
19 See also Ben DeGrow, “Categorical Grants” in “How School Funding Works in Michigan” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, July 19, 2017), https://www.mackinac.org/23787.
20 Estimates of district foundation allowance revenue derived based on “Per-Pupil Foundation Allowance Ten-Year History for Schools: FYs 2010-11 through 2019-20 (estimated)" (Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, July 15, 2021), https://perma.cc/U6D6-8LZ6; “Historical Student Enrollment Counts Data File” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mi schooldata.org/historical-student-enrollment-counts-data-file; “Financial Reports: FID Data Files” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischooldata.org/ historical-financial-reports. Missing data supplemented with estimates from “2019-2020 State Aid Financial Status Report” (Michigan Department of Education, 2020), https://perma.cc/ CXM6-X2ZM. Estimates of state foundation allowance revenue subtracted from the total state revenue as reported in the 2019-20 National Public Education Financial Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data.
21 Author’s calculations based on "Line Item and Boilerplate Summary: School Aid, Fiscal Year 2020-21, Public Act 165 of 2020, Senate Bill 927 as Enacted," (Michigan House Fiscal Agency, Nov. 2020), 11-12,https://perma.cc/W32N-VA88.
22 Author’s calculations based on “Budget Briefing: School Aid” (Michigan House Fiscal Agency, Jan. 2019), 6, 15, https://perma. cc/4R55-ZAQ8.
23 "School Funding: Do Poor Kids Get Their Fair Share?"(Urban Institute, May 2017),https://perma.cc/V39W-E6NT.
24 "Title I, Part A, Improving Basic Programs—Allocations Overview," document provided to author by email from Shoua Vang, financial manager, Office of Educational Supports - Financial Unit, Michigan Department of Education, April 1, 2021.
25 “Program Allocations: 2020-21 Final Title I, Part A, Improving Basic Programs” (Michigan Department of Education, 2022), https://perma.cc/DA8X-4A3U.
26 Author’s calculations based on data from “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary & Secondary Education, Sept. 9, 2021), https://perma.cc/DA8C-F7EX.
27 "Michigan School Districts: Extra COVID Funds Breakdown" (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, April 2021), https://perma. cc/F9SM-U4P9.
28 Author’s calculations based on “Program Allocations: 2019-20 Final Title, Part A – Improving Basic Programs” (Michigan Department of Education, Jan. 6, 2021), https://perma.cc/DA8X-4A3U.
29 Author’s calculations based on NPEFS data. Inflation adjustments made using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), https://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Consumer_Price_Index/HistoricalCPI.aspx.
30 Author’s calculations based on NPEFS data.
31 Author’s calculations based on “Financial Information Database” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischooldata.org/historical-financial-reports.
32 Ben DeGrow, “A Not Welcome Sign for Special-Needs Students,” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Sept. 5, 2017), https://perma.cc/SU2W-3XMR.
33 MCL § 388.1656. Author’s calculations based on special education revenue data collected from intermediate school district Certified Annual Financial Reports from Fiscal Year 2018-19. See also CEPI’s “Special Education Enrollment,” https://www.mischooldata.org/historical-special-education-enrollment.
34 Ben DeGrow, “More to Charter Special Ed Gap than Meets the Eye” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Sept. 20, 2016), https://perma.cc/Z5BS-FSLE.
35 Author’s calculations based on 2019-20 NPEFS data.
36 Author’s calculations based on NPEFS data and CEPI data, https://www.mischooldata.org/historical-special-education-enrollment.
37 Ben DeGrow, “Flex Learning: Funding New Pathways for Student Success” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Jan. 12, 2021), 2-3, https://www.mackinac.org/S2020-10.
38 Paul T. Hill, Marguerite Roza and James Harvey, “Facing the Future: Financing Productive Schools” (Center on Reinventing Public Education, Dec. 2008), 1, https://perma.cc/HKT8-Y6ZB.
39 Leslie E. Papke, “The Effects of Spending on Test Pass Rates: Evidence from Michigan,” Journal of Public Economics, vol. 89, no. 5–6 (June 2005): 821–839, https://perma.cc/F3Q2-RA92. Leslie E. Papke and Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, “Panel Data Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to Test Pass Rates,” Journal of Econometrics, vol. 145, no. 1–2 (2008): 121–133, https://perma.cc/H57Z-JW7V.
40 Ben DeGrow and Edward C. Hoang, “School Spending and Student Achievement in Michigan: What's the Relationship?” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, April 14, 2016), http://www.mackinac.org/S2016-02.
41 “Michigan Education Finance Study” (Augenblick, Palaich & Associates, June 2016), vi, https://perma.cc/R3AG-S4JC.
42 Ron French, “State Education Proposal Would Add $1.4 Billion to School Budget” (Bridge Magazine, July 12, 2016), https://perma.cc/V2PY-LTNA.
43 Ben DeGrow, “Ed Trust-Midwest Report Misses the Mark” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Jan. 30, 2020), https://perma.cc/7BX9-6E82. See also "Michigan’s School Funding: Crisis and Opportunity" (The Education Trust-Midwest, Jan. 2020), 21-25, https://perma.cc/BFP8-ZNQ8. Author’s calculations based on “Line Item and Boilerplate Summary: School Aid, Fiscal Year 2019-20, Public Act 58 of 2019, House Bill 4242 as Enacted, Including Vetoes and Supplemental Appropriations through December 31, 2019" (Michigan House Fiscal Agency, Jan. 2020), 4, 7, https://perma.cc/WR3P-XPFT; David Arsen, Tanner Delpier and Jesse Nagel, "Michigan School Finance at the Crossroads: A Quarter Century of State Control" (Michigan State University Education Policy Report, Jan. 2019), 42, https://perma.cc/669L-MCPM.
44 Isaac M. Opper, “Teachers Matter: Understanding Teachers’ Impact on Student Achievement” (RAND Corporation, 2019), https://perma.cc/8M4U-7DYZ.
45 Author’s calculations based on 2019-20 NPEFS data.
46 Ron French, “10 Years of Strict Teacher Evaluations Haven’t Boosted Learning in Michigan” (Bridge Michigan, Dec. 14, 2021), https://perma.cc/729T-NX2Y.
47 “Educator Effectiveness Report” (Center for Educational Performance and Information) https://www.mischooldata.org/ educator-effectiveness; Ben DeGrow, “Should Educator Evaluations Trust Data More?” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, May 29, 2019), https://perma.cc/J9ZA-REWM.
48 Tom Gantert, "School Boards Routinely Violate Merit Pay Law" (Michigan Capitol Confidential, Aug. 29, 2018), https://perma.cc/9R5C-FKMD; Tom Gantert, "Snyder Calls Legislature's Penalty for No Merit Pay 'Unenforceable'” (Michigan Capitol Confidential, July 17, 2017), https://perma.cc/9WFY-XTUG.
49 Thomas A. DeLuca, "K-12 Non-Instructional Service Consolidation: Spending Changes and Scale Economies," Journal of Education Finance, vol. 39, no. 2 (Fall 2013), 164-168, https://perma.cc/772M-U2RD.
50 “Number of Public School Districts in Michigan” (Michigan Department of Education),https://perma.cc/DW2H-5EQY.
51 Jonathan Oosting, "With 46 Districts in Deficit, Superintendent Pushes More School Consolidation, State Support" (MLive.com, Feb. 27, 2014), https://perma.cc/J3Y5-WWNP.
52 Mike Flanagan, “Quarterly Report to the Legislature on Deficit Districts” (Michigan Department of Education, Feb. 27, 2014), https://perma.cc/QT6X-H24K; Brian Whiston, “Quarterly Report to the Legislature on Deficit Districts” (Michigan Department of Education, Sept. 16, 2015, https://perma.cc/ 7XL2-PXLV.
53 Andrew J. Coulson, “School District Consolidation, Size and Spending: An Evaluation” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, May 22, 2007), https://www.mackinac.org/S2007-06.
54 Center for Educational Performance and Information, Historical Student Enrollment Counts Data, https://www.mi schooldata.org/historical-student-enrollment-counts-data-file/.
55 William Duncombe and John Yinger, “Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?” (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 2001), https://perma.cc/ZM6F-G8U3.
56 Tom Gantert, “Main Source for MSU School Consolidation Study Says His Data Was Misapplied” (Michigan Capitol Confidential, Sept. 7, 2010), https://perma.cc/8B8V-HDP3.
57 William Duncombe and John Yinger, “Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?” (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 2001), 3-6, https://perma.cc/ZM6F-G8U3.
58 James Hohman, Henry Deeth and Victoria Aultman, “70% of Districts Contract Support Services” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Dec. 20, 2021), https://perma.cc/E2YF-P5MV.
59 See Frank J. Kelley, “Attorney General Opinion No. 6915” (Michigan Department of Attorney General, Sept. 4, 1996), https://perma.cc/B8JE-Y4WT.
60 MCL § 388.1618(2). See also Jared Key, “Some School Districts Fail to Disclose Superintendent Earnings” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Aug. 27, 2020), https://perma.cc/A4Y7-Z38S.
61 Daarel Burnette II, "Making School-Spending Data Transparent and Accessible Is No Easy Lift" (Education Week, April 4, 2018), https://perma.cc/2AHT-NG3Q.
62 “School-Level Expenditure Report” (Center for Educational Performance and Information), https://www.mischool data.org/school-level-expenditure-report. See also “ESSA School-Level Financial Reporting: Michigan Per-Pupil Expenditure Calculation Methodology” (Michigan Department of Education, Jan. 28, 2020), https://perma.cc/M5DK-QB8Q.
63 Author’s calculations based on 2018-19 data from the Center for Educational Performance and Information.
64 Author’s calculations based on 2018-19 data from the Center for Educational Performance and Information.
65 See “Financial Transparency for Colorado Schools,” https://coloradok12financialtransparency.com.
66 See “School System Financial Information” (Georgia Department of Education, 2021), https://perma.cc/58HE-DKRM.
67 Ben DeGrow, “Flex Learning: Funding New Pathways for Student Success” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Jan. 12, 2021), https://www.mackinac.org/S2020-10.
68 Author’s calculations based on 2020-21 data from CEPI, https://www.mischooldata.org/k-12-data-files.
69 See Ben DeGrow, “Flex Learning: Funding New Pathways for Student Success” (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Jan. 12, 2021), https://www.mackinac.org/28392.
70 Todd L. Ely and Mark L. Fermanich, Journal of Education Finance, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Spring 2013), 343-369.
71 Ishtiaque Fazlul, Cory Koedel, and Eric Parsons, "Free and Reduced-Price Meal Eligibility Does Not Measure Student Poverty" (National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research, May 2021), https://perma.cc/Y7KH-Z26J.
72 Marguerite Roza, "Funding Student Types: How States Can Mine Their Own Data to Guide Finance Policy on High-Needs Students" (Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, November 2017), 6, https://perma.cc/EGU4-RQAH.
73 MCL § 388.1631a(2).
74 MCL § 388.1705c(19).
75 Author’s calculations based on “2020-2021 State Aid Financial Status Report” (State of Michigan), https://perma.cc/B7Z8-2LDG.
76 See “State Education Tax, Summer Property Tax” (Michigan Department of Treasury, 2022), https://perma.cc/6R4Z-4YRZ.
77 "50-State Comparisons: K-12 and Special Education Funding" (Education Commission of the States, October 2021), https://perma.cc/RNV3-EH9S.