The Overview

Michigan schools will get $10,300 per student when the state's budget year starts Thursday, Oct. 1, with extra money for students from low-income families and those learning English. Free breakfast and lunch continue for all 1.4 million public school students. Schools that take state safety grants must waive legal protections, including attorney-client privilege, if the state investigates a mass casualty event.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 5630 into law July 21. The $22.9 billion education budget also funds community colleges and universities and sends $19.8 billion to K-12 schools, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Twp.), the House budget chair, sponsored the bill.

What The Law Does

The per-student amount rises $250. K-12 funding is about $1.3 billion smaller, but nearly all of that drop is about $2 billion less federal money in the budget, while state spending on K-12 schools rises 3.7%, the fiscal agency found.

A new weighted formula combines aid for students from low-income families and English learners, raises it 20% and grows it over 15 years. Literacy gets $502 million, including $75 million so every reading teacher can train in the "science of reading," according to Whitmer's office. Schools can share $310 million in mental health and safety grants. The privilege waiver tied to that money, which a state appeals court upheld in April, now applies more narrowly.

The Demo

Michigan has about 10.1 million people in roughly 4.1 million households, according to the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates. The median household income is $72,875, and 10.4% of residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home.

The Debate

The House first passed the bill 56-49 on April 22. The House approved the final version 99-8 on July 3, and the Senate passed it the same morning.

Bollin said in a statement the budget "reflects a strong commitment to helping students succeed." Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), who sponsored the bill creating the weighted formula, said it puts "students at the center of school funding."

The Michigan Education Association, the statewide teachers union, said the budget "continues the disturbing trend of using additional School Aid Fund resources to pay for costs normally paid by the General Fund." Three House Democrats voted no over that concern, and every other no vote came from Republicans, the Michigan Advance reported.

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