Report: Give governor more control to improve Michigan schools, test scores

• A state-sponsored report recommends more governor control over public education
• Some of the changes would require a change to the state Constitution
• The report drew criticism from the state superintendent and the State Board of Education

Michigan should give the governor more power over the state’s public education system and shrink local control, according to a report released Wednesday.

The state-sponsored report, published by the University of Michigan’s Youth Policy Lab, makes sweeping recommendations that could radically alter the command and control structure of the state’s schools. Those recommendations include allowing the governor to appoint at least some members to the State Board of Education and have a formal role in the hiring of a state superintendent. 

The report comes days after the publication of a Bridge Michigan series examining the state’s education crisis. Michigan now ranks 44^th in fourth grade reading, the lowest ranking in the Midwest and below states like Mississippi, which, until recently, was known for having one of the worst education systems in the nation. Early elementary reading proficiency is considered a marker of future academic success.

The report, which cost taxpayers $500,000, includes recommendations that are similar to concerns raised in Bridge’s reporting. 

• Read the full report here.

The report and Bridge both found that reform is stymied by a system that gives local districts great latitude to set curriculum and other standards — as well as a state bureaucracy that has no central control.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not respond to comment, but state Superintendent Michael Rice immediately dismissed the report’s conclusions.

“The report offers no significant new research or fresh insight about knowledge, education policy, or ways to improve student achievement,” he said.

The report follows a year of analysis by UM economics professor Brian Jacob of national governance structures and data, interviews with 40 Michigan education leaders and surveys superintendents across the state.

He made seven major recommendations:

1. Give the governor greater authority, maintain guardrails to discourage politicization

Jacob wrote that educators told him that the current governance system — in which there is no clear person in charge — is broken.

Michigan has a disjointed system for educational governance, distributing authority among the governor, the State Board of Education, the state superintendent, the Michigan Legislature, and local school districts.

One survey respondent told Jacob that “the governor’s office just did what it wanted to do. The State Board of Education just does what it wants to do, and sometimes that aligns because the stars align sometimes, but often what it created was kind of two different agendas that left local partners to figure out how to stitch those together in a meaningful way or left legislators to stitch those together because they’re the ones who are appropriating dollars.”

2. Restructure the State Board of Education, allow governor to appoint at least some members

Currently, the eight members of the state board are elected and are nominated by the Republican and Democratic conventions. One respondent quoted in the report said, “They are too partisan and use their position as state board members to politic the party line. They are predictable in their capacity to disappoint.”

Such a move would require a change to Michigan’s Constitution.

That recommendation didn’t go over well with State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh. 

“It is troubling that the report leans on opinion over data, especially when recommending governance changes that disregard the will of the people and the constitutional safeguards established in 1963,” Pugh said in a statement released by MDE.

3. Give the governor more control over the choice of the state superintendent. 

Currently, the state board hires and fires the superintendent, who then is in charge of the Michigan Department of Education. Jacob offered several recommendations, including having the state superintendent be a Cabinet member appointed by the governor, or that the State Board of Education forward several finalists, from which the governor could pick.

4. Empower Michigan Department of Education to provide guidance and support to local districts 

The department needs more funding, the report recommends. Said one educator surveyed, “MDE should be able to recruit and retain the finest educators in the field so they can become the ‘go to’ entity in the state.”

Related:

• The state spent big to fix schools. The result: worse scores and plenty of blame
• Mississippi turned around its schools. Its secret: Tools Michigan abandoned
• Michigan Democrats, Republicans swap blame on schools after Bridge report

5. Increase the power of intermediate school districts

Michigan has 835 local traditional districts and charters, which complicates communication and coordination. Boosting the power of intermediate districts could streamline how students are taught.

6. Follow the lead of other states and implement initiatives to improve literacy and math

Currently, Michigan school districts can pick their own curriculum, creating a patchwork of learning across the state that makes it difficult for students who transfer between schools.

7. Invest more in schools 

Despite recent funding increases, education leaders told Jacob that they were still concerned about inadequate funding for special education services, as well as a statewide funding mechanism for career and technical education, transportation and capital improvements. Michigan districts spent an average of $17,535 per student on K-12 education in 2022-23, according to U.S. Census data. That’s in the top half of states — 17 spent more per pupil. 

Bridge’s recent reporting raised alarms over the inability of Michigan to improve its test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test, particularly in the crucial realm of early literacy. 

Bridge’s analysis found that despite more money, more staffing and years of attempted reforms, Michigan schools are sliding farther behind other states in key educational outcomes.

One Michigan education leader told Bridge that the state is at a “moment of reckoning,” and many candidates who have announced plans to run for governor in 2026 are making education reform a key to their campaigns.