NEPC Review: From School Aid to Student Aid: Modernizing K-12 Funding in Michigan (Mackinac Center, March 2022)
A Mackinac Center report recommends changes to the state’s current approach to financing public and charter schools, to move toward a system where more funding follows the student to either public, charter, or private schools—or to other service providers. The report provides some useful, albeit insufficiently researched, guidance on shifting categorical funding into core funding and modifying the state’s approach to financing programs for children with disabilities. However, several key elements of the report and its proposals are built on false promises and assumptions and are not helpful for policymakers.