Each child is unique. Every Michigan kid needs an education environment that works for them. The West Michigan Policy Forum has long called for unique, individualized solutions for kids as a core part of any serious reform agenda, alongside real accountability and a relentless focus on literacy. The federal Scholarship Tax Credit is exactly that kind of solution, and Michigan is one of the states still on the sidelines.
Today, 31 states have opted into the federal Scholarship Tax Credit, a program that gives families access to education savings accounts, scholarships and individualized learning options at no cost to taxpayers or to existing school budgets. Roughly 90 percent of children in those states now have access to choices their Michigan counterparts do not. Michigan is not one of the 31, because Governor Whitmer has yet to opt in.
But, there is still time to make the right choice for our kids.
The Scholarship Tax Credit is not a mandate on schools nor does it touch Michigan’s School Aid Fund. Instead, it is a federal opportunity that lets private donors direct their contributions toward qualified scholarship-granting organizations, and receive a credit on their federal tax credit. This in turn will help families cover tutoring, curriculum, and tuition for the option that best fits their child, whether that’s their neighborhood public school, a specialized school, or learning support in either setting. No state dollars. No new bureaucracy. No cost to the schools already serving the majority of Michigan kids. Just options for the families who need something different and can’t currently afford it.
Michigan Cannot Afford to Sit This Out
Michigan ranks 44th in the nation in fourth grade reading. Nearly $1 billion in state literacy spending has produced a lower share of proficient readers than a decade ago. When a system is failing this many kids this badly, the answer cannot be more of the same, doubling down on the same programs producing the same results. Part of the answer must be giving kids who need more something else to turn to. More than half of states have already figured that out. Mississippi, a state Michigan now trails badly in reading outcomes, has embraced both accountability for schools and options for individual kids as part of its climb into the top 10 nationally. Michigan is suffering under the old playbook of spending more but getting less. It’s time to stop repeating the play that doesn’t work.
A One-Signature Decision
Opting in does not require a legislative fight or a ballot fight. It requires the Governor’s signature on a single federal form, along with a list of qualified scholarship-granting organizations. Colorado’s governor did it on his own signature. New York’s governor pledged to do it on herself. Neither needed a bill. Michigan’s governor does not need one either.
Speaker of the Michigan House Matt Hall has already called on Governor Whitmer to opt in, warning that every year Michigan waits, Michigan taxpayers’ donations simply fund scholarships for kids in other states instead of our own. He is right, and he should not be a lone voice on this.
Instead, Michigan’s State Board of Education voted this spring to urge the Governor to stay out, choosing to protect a system that ranks among the worst in the nation rather than giving our kids another option. That is backwards. And, it is cruel. The point of opting in is not to replace the public schools serving most Michigan kids. It is to give the families for whom that system isn’t working somewhere else to turn. The Governor has said she is waiting on federal guidance before deciding. But other Democratic-led states, Colorado and New York, found enough information to act.
Governor Whitmer has the authority to do the same for Michigan kids today. We urge her to do it.