The Skillman Foundation

This story was originally published in Chalkbeat Detroit.

In her $21.4 billion school aid fund budget, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing at least $10,300 in state funding per student and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for literacy tutoring, curriculum, and training for teachers.

The total budget of $88 billion also includes a new initiative that will likely please parents and teachers who shell out money during the back-to-school season. Whitmer is proposing a sales tax holiday for back-to-school shopping, exempting clothing and supplies purchased during a weekend in August.

The $10,300 increase in the base per-pupil amount, which is the lowest amount a school district or charter school can receive, represents a 2.5% increase in funding over the current budget. The governor’s office said the per-pupil grant, under this proposal, will have increased 31% since Whitmer took office nearly eight years ago. The budget proposal released Wednesday is her last as governor. A November governor’s race will decide the next state leader.

State Budget Office officials presented the budget to lawmakers Wednesday during a joint hearing of the House and Senate appropriations committee.

Jen Flood, the state budget office director, told lawmakers that federal revenue declines, rising health care costs, high tariffs, and changing national policy made development of the overall state budget challenging. It’s why the budget includes some tax increases that might be tough sells to some lawmakers. For instance, the budget calls for increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes from $2 to $3. Whitmer also proposes a new tax on vaping products, while also increasing the internet tax rate on casinos.

As she previewed early this week, Whitmer’s education budget is focused on early literacy to address how much Michigan students are struggling with literacy, especially in the early grades.

“Strong literacy skills are one of those clearest predictors of long term success in school, in the workforce and in life. That’s why this budget keeps a clear focus on helping students read proficiently by the end of third grade and stay on track from there,” Kyle Guerrant, the deputy director of the State Budget Office, told lawmakers during the Wednesday hearing.

Here are some of the specifics related to literacy, according to state budget documents:

• $100 million for a new high-impact tutoring program over two years. The funding will be awarded on a competitive basis to tutoring partners with a track record in Michigan.
• $100 million in funding over two years for grants that help districts purchase and implement a high quality literacy curriculum.
• $50 million to continue Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS, training over a five-year period. LETRS is a professional development program based on the science of reading. The science of reading refers to a body of knowledge that emphasizes phonics along with building vocabulary and background knowledge.
• A $10.5 million increase in funding for additional literacy coaches at intermediate districts. Coaches help teachers develop and implement instructional strategies for pupils in grades pre-K to 5. The increase brings total funding for literacy coaches to $52.5 million.

“Widespread support for efforts to improve early literacy are needed more than ever as Michigan’s students continue to lag the nation in reading,” Jennifer Mrozowski, spokesperson for the Education Trust-Midwest, an education research organization based in Royal Oak, said in a statement. “Investments in research-backed practices based in the science of reading are particularly important in districts that serve high concentrations of poverty, students of color, English learners and students with disabilities.”