Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s PreK-12 budget proposes historic investments in school funding and would have a major impact on the shortage of teachers in Michigan public schools. “This budget would help advance every single goal of the state’s Top 10 state strategic education plan and, in so doing, would improve the lives of our more than 1.4 million Michigan public school children,” said Dr. Michael Rice, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

The Governor’s recommended budget marks the biggest state education funding increase in more than 20 years - without raising taxes, and includes provisions that would directly impact educators in the next academic year: 

•  $1.6 billion for educator retention programs that make sure our educators have the supports they need and the recognition they deserve for the work they do, including:  
• $1.5 billion for payments to eligible teachers, administrators, and support staff who continue working in their school district over the next four years.   

• $75 million for innovative approaches to addressing regional educator retention needs.   
• $50 million annually for teacher onboarding and mentoring programs.  
• $600 million for educator recruitment programs to ensure the teacher talent pipeline continues to provide the education system with the best possible educators. Programs funded include: 
  • scholarships for future educators,
  • stipends for student teachers,
  • training opportunities to create and improve school leaders, 
  • and expanded programs in school districts to recruit, train, and retain teachers from their communities.   

• $361 million for student mental health to ensure students with mental health needs can be identified and provided with the right support.   
• $66 million for school safety programs, building off existing school safety grant opportunities for districts and implementing cross-sector approaches to prevent mass violence through partnerships between schools, public safety, mental health professionals, and communities.  

“There is increasing awareness of the enormous effect that the teacher shortage, exacerbated but not caused by the pandemic, has had on our public schools,” Dr. Rice said. “Our needs are urgent, and we are encouraging the legislature to accelerate this funding through a supplemental budget passed by the start of spring to give local school districts the time to begin to implement these efforts before the start of next school year.”