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Early childhood education is key to success. Michigan still has work to do.

Michigan has vastly improved access to state-funded preschool, but gaps remain. Should the state spend another $400 million to make its Great Start Readiness Program universal?

By Joel Kurth, Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Special Report)

Preschool is a proven strategy to improve school readiness. Children in high-quality preschools are more likely to succeed in school, graduate from high school, earn higher incomes and commit fewer crimes. The stakes are intensified in Michigan by middling school performance. Michigan fourth-grade reading scores on the national assessment rank 32nd in the nation, rising last year after several years of declines.

Michigan dramatically increased access to state-funded preschool through the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP). The move followed a 2012 Bridge Magazine investigation that found that nearly 30,000 4-year-olds who qualified for free, high-quality preschool weren’t in the program because of inadequate funding and poor coordination of services. In response, the Michigan Legislature doubled annual Great Start funding and later added another $31 million for early literacy programs.

More work to do on pre-K

The expansion resulted in more than doubling the total classroom slots for 4-year-olds. The percentage of state 4-year-olds served by the program also has doubled since 2006. Still, 14 other states rank higher than Michigan in preschool access.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she wants universal preschool statewide by 2022. One obstacle is money. The state already spends  $329 million on its Great Start Readiness Program. A 2017 report estimated the state would need to invest another $400 million per year to make the program universal.

In the absence of a statewide reform, many school districts are addressing the issue themselves, adding a second year of kindergarten. Statewide, more than half of 4-year-olds are now in taxpayer-funded preschool or developmental kindergarten. Total cost: about $127 million.

Rising costs of child care

Beyond preschool lies child care, where Michigan faces serious problems for both families and the state economy.

The United Way of Michigan estimates that child care eats up about a quarter of the household budget of economically vulnerable families in Michigan.

Michigan child care subsidy program has a host of problems including a lack of access, lack of quality caregivers and low reimbursement rates compared to other states. The Michigan program serves about 1 in 5 low-income families.

Increasingly, Michigan business leaders are framing child care access as an issue of economic growth rather than human services. Many companies have faced labor shortages in recent years – especially for low-wage positions.

But solutions are costly. Michigan families spend an average of $824 a month for center-based infant care. At nearly $10,000 a year, this can rival the cost of housing or college tuition.

K-12 test scores slowly improving, but remain mediocre

Michigan is showing signs of improvement in educating the 1.5 million students who attend 3,000 K-12 public schools statewide, but test scores are still only average at best.

Last year, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress rose more in Michigan than most other states. The improvement put Michigan closer to the middle of the pack among states, rather than the bottom third.

Most experts agree there still much to do, as Michigan recovers from a decade of population declines that drained tax dollars from schools.

“The urgency could not be greater. While it is difficult to face, the data are clear: Michigan children are falling behind,” according to a 2017 report from then Gov. Rick Snyder 21st Century Education Commission.

Last year, Michigan ranked in the bottom third of states in the percentage of fourth-graders deemed proficient in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the “nation report card.”  The state fourth-grade reading scores were the worst in the Midwest.

Michigan eighth-grade reading and math results, though, were closer to the national average.

Experts agree that early reading is critical to later success, as reading proficiency is tied to overall academic and vocational achievement. Conversely, early illiteracy is linked to higher dropout rates and a greater probability of incarceration.

Education funding

Total K-12 investment in Michigan fell 18 percent between 1995  and 2015 when adjusted for inflation, ranking it last among states nationwide. (Public school enrollment fell nearly 8 percent over those 20 years.)

Nationally, total K-12 investment rose in all other states but West Virginia. With fewer Michigan college students pursuing teaching careers, recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is a concern.

Average teacher pay in Michigan, $62,702,  is 13th highest in the nation and nearly 4 percent higher than the national average. But the state classrooms have more students per teacher (18.3 students per teacher in Michigan versus 16 nationally) than all but six other states.

Recent Michigan reforms

Michigan elected leaders have tried to take the long view in addressing education performance.

They approved the nation largest expansion of public preschool, enrolling thousands of additional 4-year-olds to get a jumpstart on learning. They also approved a law requiring students to be proficient readers before earning advancement to fourth grade, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and educators are working to undercut because they contend it is counterproductive.

Whitmer also has proposed changing how Michigan funds education, by giving schools more money for students who cost more to educate, such as those who are poor or learning English.  Michigan currently gives schools about the same amount of money per pupil, about $8,100 per year, and the state GOP-led Legislature isn’t receptive to Whitmer proposed changes.

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.