Benson says school funding needs to be decoupled from property wealth

BY ANDREW ROTH, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor as a Democrat, is previewing her plan to bring Michigan’s education system from being one of the bottom 10 in the country to one of the top 10.

Benson laid out key goals during a roundtable Wednesday in Saginaw with educators, students, parents and school administrators.

She said her plan would include transitioning to a weighted school funding formula that is decoupled from property wealth, adding that “a child in Alpena has different funding needs than a child from Grand Rapids.”

Funding priorities would include infrastructure in school buildings and investing in dual enrollment and Career and Technical Education programs.

Benson said she would conduct a full audit of “outdated” school financing systems and make transparency a key focus “so that we can know where the money is going and ensure that we all, as a community, have confidence those funds are being invested strategically, wisely, with an eye towards what’s best for our schools, our educators and our kids.”

Another priority would be funding wraparound support services focused on mental health, after school programs and summer programs.

“It’s clear that families who benefit so much from the support they get from the schools in their community during the school year then lose that support during the summer, and that sets them and their kids back significantly when they start in the fall again,” Benson said.

To address that need, she said her plan would include a universal, full-day, five-day-per-week early childhood education system called MiCare that would be modeled on successful programs from other states and countries.

Benson said she also wants to expand access to ongoing training for teachers with a goal of increasing Michigan’s early literacy rates, which rank in the bottom third of the nation.

“I know it’s easy for folks to come in and have these big ideas for education, but I’m ready to get it done,” Benson said.

She added that “every day that we don’t spend trying to make Michigan one of the top 10 states for education in the country is a day where we’re falling behind.”

Concerns raised to Benson by educators and students include teachers paying out of pocket to provide supplies for students, parents not being able to be involved in their children’s education because they are working long hours or multiple jobs to make ends meet and training teachers to recognize when a student may need additional support rather than defaulting to penalizing them for outbursts or other signs of neurodivergent conditions.

Benson faces Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and former Cape Coral, Fla., Mayor Marni Sawicki in the Democratic primary to succeed term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Republican candidates include former Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township), former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt), Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (Porter Township), former congressional candidate Anthony Hudson and William Null, who was charged and acquitted for plotting to kidnap and kill Whitmer.

Last month, independent candidate for governor Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan laid out his plan to invest $4.5 billion in Michigan’s schools.

Duggan warned that the investment would come with “punishment” for school administrators whose districts don’t show improvements.

But Benson said accountability measures should “uplift schools and put them in a position to succeed as opposed to pulling out when they don’t meet your needs.”

READ MORE: Jocelyn Benson says miscarriage prompted her to prioritize reproductive health access

This news coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.