At Flint Schools, teachers are doing great – students, not so much

In 2024-25, nearly all of Flint Community Schools’ students in grades three through eight — 90% — were not proficient in English Language Arts, which is largely reading and writing.

And 96% of students in grades three through six were not proficient in math. That’s according to the district’s performance on the M-STEP, Michigan’s official standardized tests for student proficiency.

Despite this track record, the Michigan Education Association announced it had honored Flint union president Karen Christian with its Paul Blewett Friend of Education Award on April 23. The MEA award goes to someone who “did the most to improve the lives of teachers, to further the goals of the MEA or to further the cause of public education,” according to a nominating form available on the union website.

Felicia Naimark, a Flint educator and secretary-treasurer of the United Teachers of Flint, the MEA affiliate, presented Christian with the award.

“While other districts have had their struggles, Flint is unlike many in our difficulties from the effects of the auto industry moving out of the Flint area to the water crisis, the changeover in superintendents, and the instability of our board,” Naimark said, according to an MEA account of the evening. “We are not an easy district to be president of. Karen fights every day for our staff and students.”

General Motors Corp. began shuttering its plants in 1987, nearly 40 years ago. Flint’s water crisis began 12 years ago. Christian’s tenure as union president reaches back to 2014, according to a social media post the union made.

Naimark didn’t cite inadequate funding as a reason for the district’s dismal academic performance.

The Flint district received $33,151 for each student in 2024-25, or $9,284 more than the state average of $23,867. Flint gets that extra money because 90% of its students are classified as "economically disadvantaged," which qualifies the district for additional state and federal funds.

Flint is among the best-funded districts in the state, despite the city’s struggling community.

Flint residents had a median household income of $37,646, as of 2024.

School employees do far better. Christian, a teacher and union president, earns $88,546 a year at Flint Public Schools. The average annual salary of a Flint teacher in 2024-25 was $70,825.

And Flint’s leadership doesn’t blame educators for the students’ dismal performance on state testing, at least according to staff evaluations.

Flint gave 98% of its 149 teachers the highest of three possible job ratings in 2024-25: “effective.” Three teachers (2%) were given the “developing” rating. None were rated as “needing support.”

Each of the district’s 15 administrators was given the highest “effective” rating in 2024-25.

Flint Community Schools didn’t return a message seeking comment.