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Seventy years after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that racial segregation was unconstitutional, Michigan students of color continue to face pervasive inequalities. I continue to go to school where I do.
Education Trust Midwest released a new report Wednesday calling attention to these “devastating inequities” and calling for a more equitable school funding system in Michigan to address them. Made new. We've launched a new data tool that allows viewers to see how much funding schools would receive if inequalities were reduced.
The group also calls out “decades of neglect for Black, Latino/a students, and students from low-income backgrounds,” and the lack of needed resources and support in public schools; There is also a need to urgently address the severe learning loss caused by the pandemic, which has hit students with no education particularly hard.
“The urgent need is to save the next generation of students so they can compete in the global economy and achieve the American dream of a high quality of life,” said Alice Thompson, education committee chair and chair of the Detroit NAACP. It's about making it achievable.” of a statewide federation.
Some of the dire findings highlighted in the report include:
- Nearly half of Michigan's students of color and two-thirds of black students attended schools in high-poverty districts, and more than 73% of students were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This compares to 13% of white students.
- Michigan students in districts with the highest concentrations of poverty are far less likely to have experienced teachers who are, on average, more likely to be effective.
- Since the pandemic began, school-aged children in the state have lost more than half a school year in math and reading learning. Learning loss worsened dramatically in school districts such as Kalamazoo and Lansing, which serve primarily black and Latino students and students from low-income families.
- At the current pace of educational recovery, it will take another five years for most students to catch up in their math studies. According to the Education Recovery Scorecard, it takes most Michigan students decades to read at grade level, well beyond their time in school.
- Disparities in school funding between wealthy and under-resourced schools have made it difficult for high-poverty school districts to support students' educational recovery from the pandemic.
“Racism in education is based not only on race but also on socioeconomic status, and all too often occurs when both of these factors intersect,” Education Trust Midwest Policy said research director Jen Denier. “And we know that poverty, especially concentrated poverty, is a real challenge in Michigan.”
Schools with concentrated poverty are more likely to have fewer resources, less experienced teachers, higher teacher turnover and greater exposure to environmental hazards and safety concerns, she said.
Last year, the group and others asked the state Legislature to adopt something called an “opportunity index” that would provide additional funding to districts that serve communities with high concentrations of poverty. This year's budget adopted that proposal, providing an additional $1 billion in funding to school districts to serve at-risk students. However, the Opportunity Index that has been implemented has not gone as far as proponents had hoped.
Education Trust-Midwest's new data tool provides families with information that was previously not readily available. This shows how much the district currently receives in funding per student, including the additional amount it receives for at-risk students. The second column shows the amount you would receive if the Opportunity Index were fully funded. And the third column shows how much districts would receive per student if they adopted a funding system similar to the one Massachusetts adopted years ago and became a leader in tackling funding inequality. It shows what will happen.
Here's what a data tool from Detroit Public Schools Community District, the state's largest school district, shows: DPSCD currently receives her $10,862, which includes a base amount per student and funds for at-risk students. If the Opportunity Index were fully funded, districts would receive $13,448 per student. And if Massachusetts' funding model was used, the district would receive her $17,881.
Lori Higgins is Chalkbeat Detroit's bureau chief. You can contact her at the following address: lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.