Michigan spends record amount on schools, gets worse reading scores

Michigan is spending more money than ever on public schools, but test scores haven’t improved, according to new standardized test scores released earlier this month.

About 61.8% of third graders weren’t proficient at reading, according to the 2025-26 M-STEP, the state’s set of standardized tests. That’s a slight increase from the previous school year, when 61.2% of third graders weren’t proficient.

When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in 2019, she vowed to fix the literacy crisis in Michigan.

As her second and final term comes to an end in four months, test scores are worse, despite increased state funding.

In the 2018-19 school year, 55% of Michigan’s third graders weren’t proficient at reading, M-STEP data show. At that time, Michigan’s schools spent an average of$15,821 per pupil. Seven years later, Michigan is spending $23,867 per pupil, and M-STEP results are worse.

The state must improve testing rates said Glenn Maleyko, state superintendent of instruction.

“We need to increase proficiency rates in all subject areas and show steady improvement over time,” Maleyko said in a September 4 news release.

🚨 Mackinac Center's Michael Van Beek breaks down Michigan’s latest test scores — and the numbers aren’t encouraging. With just 38% of third graders proficient in reading, he says it’s time to look at different ways to improve student achievement. pic.twitter.com/71SxsGKC9u

— Mackinac Center (@MackinacCenter) September 8, 2026

The state must keep investing in education, Bob Wheaton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Education, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.

“We need to put Students First by continuing to invest in education,” Wheaton wrote. “That’s what the Legislature and governor did with the fiscal year 2027 budget and the 2024 and 2026 literacy and Science of Reading laws. We have a research-based plan that has bipartisan, broad support. We need to double down on this strategy.”

According to Wheaton, literacy laws won’t be activated fully until 2027.

“The 2024 literacy/dyslexia laws won’t be fully implemented until 2027, so students have not yet fully experienced the benefits of what’s in those laws,” Wheaton wrote. “However, in visits to local schools we’ve seen teachers who are very passionate about how well the research-based Science of Reading is working. We are already making progress, and many districts have been implementing the Science of Reading and having teachers complete Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training even before it’s mandatory under the 2026 law.

“t will take continued hard work by everyone to improve student achievement in Michigan. We must improve our assessment results. We must increase proficiency rates in all subject areas and show steady improvement over a period of years.”

The Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP, is designed to gauge how well students are progressing toward state standards. These standards, developed for educators by educators, broadly outline what students should know and be able to do to be prepared to enter the workplace, career education training and college.