Michigan Democrats, Republicans swap blame on schools after Bridge report

• Michigan school test scores are middling or declining, and there’s plenty of blame
• After a Bridge series this week, lawmakers continued to point fingers
• Republicans say Dems abandoned key reforms; Dems say new methods need time to work

Michigan Democrats and Republicans once again are blaming each other for public schools’ lagging test scores, following a Bridge Michigan investigation this week into the state of education.

Bridge’s reporting showed that reading scores have languished, despite increased funding, more staffing and attempts at reform that advocates say helped increase scores in Mississippi.

Some officials such as former state interim superintendent Sheila Alles applauded the series as a necessary wake-up call for the state.

“Education in Michigan will change if we force the system to change,” said Alles, who said the state allows local school districts too much authority to make decisions.

“We can’t keep doing what we’re doing because we won’t see the improvement that we need to.” 

For the most part, though, reaction largely fell along partisan lines.

Democrats blamed Republicans, accusing them of depressing funding in the years they controlled the Legislature or thwarting other improvements. Republicans blamed Democrats for repealing two laws in 2023 that some credit for Mississippi’s success: A-F grades for schools and requiring third graders to pass a literacy test.

On social media, the Michigan Senate Republicans slammed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her fellow Democrats for repealing those laws, adding “now, Michigan students have fallen behind kids in Mississippi and 42 other states.”

Related:

• Michigan spent big to fix schools. The result: Worse scores and plenty of blame
• Mississippi turned around its schools. Its secret: Tools Michigan abandoned
• Fact check: What’s true, false, misleading about Michigan’s education slide
• Here’s how governor candidates say they’d fix Michigan education

Michigan Forward Network, a group linked to west Michigan school choice advocate Betsy DeVos, blamed Democrats for scrapping reforms. A spokesperson, Zach Rudat said, “it’s far past time to restore our 3rd-grade reading law, restore our A-F rating system, and deliver a higher return on investment for Michigan families.” 

Democrats, including state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Irwin, said Mississippi's biggest success has come from strongly encouraging teachers to train in how people learn to read, including phonics, using “science of reading.”

Michigan passed its science of reading law in 2024 with bipartisan support. Irwin said during the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who left office at the end of 2018, leaders favored “symbolic things” like read or flunk ones over better instruction.

Parts of the law doesn’t take effect until two more school years, but Irwin said he’s encouraged that teachers are excited to receive the training and the state will soon begin to screen students who show signs of dyslexia for extra help.

Michigan has offered a total of $34 million for training, and the state announced Tuesday that 5,000 educators have taken it. State Superintendent Michael Rice has repeatedly called for it to be mandatory for K-5 teachers. 

“Changing that whole system does take time,” Irwin said. “I was impatient trying to get the bills passed because I knew that turning the cruise ship of K-12 education in Michigan was going to take years.

The Michigan Department of Education announced Wednesday that roughly two-thirds of public school districts applied for funds to purchase evidence-based literacy curricula and or literacy professional development. 

Bridge’s reporting found that Michigan boosted classroom funding over the past 10 years by $2.1 billion, the ninth-largest increase among states.

State Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, said much of that increase came in the past few years after “over a decade of disinvestment” when Republicans controlled the Legislature.

The former teacher said districts struggled with “policy churn” and urged leaders to stay the course and see if the science of reading laws help students and schools. 

Whitmer has been in office since 2019, but Republicans controlled at least one branch of the Legislature for nearly four decades before Democrats controlled both in 2023 and 2024.

Other lawmakers took a more measured approach, with state Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, saying “both sides of the aisle agree that Michigan must do better when it comes to education.”

“Recent national test results show that our state has fallen into the bottom tier in reading and math scores—this is simply unacceptable,” he wrote on X.