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Created Equal: K-12 teacher shortages in Michigan 

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By: Sasha Bacon
24 October 2024 at 01:54

Teachers in classrooms are dealing with an especially tough set of circumstances. Many are dealing with the after effects of the pandemic on student mental health and taking responsibility for keeping kids safe from violence.

A panel of educational professionals joined Created Equal on Wednesday to discuss the teacher shortage in Michigan, its effect on students, and some possible solutions.

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Amber Arellano, the executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, explained that many Michigan K-12 schools, especially in rural, urban, and working-class districts, are reporting difficulty in filling teaching vacancies as well as teaching staff leaving and retiring early.

Madeline Mavrogordato, an associate professor of K-12 educational administration, explained that Michigan is on the extreme low end of starting teacher salaries. This results in new teachers having to pay a wage penalty to pursue a teaching career.

In addition to legislation to increase teacher salaries, the panel emphasized the importance of guaranteeing teachers’ access to appropriate resources to support the populations represented in their classrooms and offering professional development opportunities to early-career teachers.

Armen Hratchian, the executive director at Teach for America Detroit, discussed how the shortage could be mitigated by investing in school and district leadership.

“It’s not just about the educator, it’s those leaders who are creating conditions for educators to thrive,” Hratchian said.

Guests:  

  • Madeline Mavrogordato is an associate professor of K-12 educational administration at Michigan State University.
  • Armen Hratchian is the executive director at Teach for America Detroit.
  • Amber Arellano is the executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest, a nonpartisan education research and policy nonprofit.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

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The post Created Equal: K-12 teacher shortages in Michigan  appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

Michigan Legislature approves $126M school spending bill

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By: Colin Jackson
26 September 2024 at 19:32

Michigan schools could be getting an extra $126 million for school safety efforts next fiscal year, on top of what was originally planned. That’s under a spending bill passed in the state Legislature Wednesday.

The additional spending is to make up for cuts to per-pupil mental health and school safety grants that had been made in the original version of the state’s fiscal year 2024-2025 schools budget that passed this summer.

Under the state’s current budget, for fiscal year 2023-2024, the grants received $328 million between restricted and general fund dollars. The new budget had slashed that number to $25 million in ongoing school aid funding and $1.5 million in one-time funding.

Democratic state Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) said that was because federal money that had supported the program was running out.

“It was always a priority, especially of House Democrats, to make sure that we were doing everything that we could to find additional dollars. So, we worked all summer and were able to find a fund that was underutilized that we could lapse early that freed up funding,” she said Wednesday.

Weiss said that new fund would be from a soon-expiring pot of money that also supported school mental health efforts.
With the new spending, the mental health and school safety grants would receive more than $150 million total in the upcoming fiscal year.
During a committee hearing for the supplemental budget bill Wednesday, Rep. Nancy DeBoer (R-Holland) pointed out that would still be less than half of what the grants got in the past.
 
“This means the schools will install only half the door locks or half the security cameras that they might otherwise. It means only half the students that need mental health support might receive them,” DeBoer said.
The legislation ultimately passed the House with wide bipartisan support by a vote of 98-11.
In the Senate, however, Republicans had harsher words for the deal. In that chamber, it didn’t get enough votes to take effect immediately.
State Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) accused Democrats in legislative leadership of shutting Republicans out of the process until the very last moment. He criticized the bill for using one-time funding to supply the grants.
“You think a school can hire a school resource officer knowing that the funding is gone next year? You don’t think people can see through this?” Damoose said.
But Democrats defended the plan as something schools they represent are in favor of.
“That flies right in the face of what my local superintendents are telling me. So, those who are on the ground, in the classrooms every day, doing the work are elated right now,” state Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said.
The legislation is now on the way to the governor for her signature.
 

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The post Michigan Legislature approves $126M school spending bill appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

MichMash: Why Michigan public school reading scores are at a 10-year low

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By: Hernz Laguerre
6 September 2024 at 19:07

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan public school reading scores have been taking a hit. MichMash host, Cheyna Roth, and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow find out why with Peter Spadafore who’s with the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. 

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

  • The latest Michigan public school reading scores and why they are are so low
  • The lasting effects of the pandemic on students
  • Policy interventions to help students improve their education

Results from this year’s Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) were released this week, showing that 39.6% of third graders across Michigan passed the state’s English language arts (ELA) test, compared to 40.9% in 2023.

Spadafore, who serves as executive director for the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, said the results were concerning but not surprising.  

“I think like every observer around Lansing and across the state, we were disappointed in the numbers, but also not entirely surprised to see the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Spadafore. “The state superintendent talks a lot about the impact of virtual instruction. When we were not able to be in classrooms having an impact on those early learners when we’re trying to get at them, soon and quickly to grasp those early reading skills.”

Lansing is hard at work to pass laws to remedy this issue. But Spadafore said they need to make sure they pass the correct laws to intervene with the reading levels.   

“It’s important that they move the bills when they’re right now. They’re overly prescriptive and change a whole lot of state law when really what we’re seeing is if we would have a better screening tool to identify students reading disabilities and characteristics of dyslexia, I think that’s when, we could be supportive of legislation.” 

Spadafore says it will take collaboration between educators, lawmakers, the union, parents and more to help reading levels improve.

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The post MichMash: Why Michigan public school reading scores are at a 10-year low appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

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