GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The School Finance Research Collaborative on Wednesday was honored with the Michigan School Business Officials’ (MSBO) 2019 Friend of Education Award, given to people or organizations dedicated to serving the best interests of education and students.
“The School Finance Research Collaborative is truly honored to accept the MSBO’s Friend of Education award as we continue our mission to fix Michigan’s broken school funding approach and provide an adequate and equitable education to all students,” said Dr. Wanda Cook-Robinson, Collaborative Project Director, who accepted the award at the MSBO’s annual conference at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. “We look forward to working with Gov. Whitmer and lawmakers from both parties to create a new school funding method that helps all students achieve and succeed, no matter their circumstances.”
The MSBO Board of Directors selects Friend of Education recipients based on their outstanding support of education in Michigan and dedication to serving the best interests of education and students.
“We are proud to recognize the School Finance Research Collaborative as a Friend of Education as it continues to support a school funding system that serves the unique needs all students,” said Mike Hagerty, MSBO Board President and Kent ISD Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services. “The Collaborative has provided the roadmap for a new school funding approach that helps all students achieve and succeed.”
The MSBO was founded in 1937 as a nonprofit corporation to serve the multifaceted interests of education.
In 2018, the School Finance Research Collaborative completed Michigan’s first comprehensive school adequacy study that determined the true cost of educating all students to make the way we fund schools more fair. The Collaborative is a diverse group of business leaders and education experts, from Metro Detroit to the U.P., who agree it’s time to change the way Michigan’s schools are funded.
The final Collaborative report provides a base cost for student achievement in Michigan, with additional funding considerations for special education, English Language Learners, Career and Technical Education programs, students living in poverty, preschool, geographic isolation, district size, cost of living differences and student transportation.
###
For media inquiries, contact Christopher Behnan, Byrum & Fisk Communications, at (517) 333-1606, ext. 1