Southeast Michigan Council of Governments report supports effort to reexamine how Michigan funds its public schools
DETROIT, Mich. — The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) today announced its support of the School Finance Research Collaborative’s efforts to reexamine how Michigan’s public schools are funded to best serve all students. SEMCOG, which represents Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, endorses the Collaborative’s work in its new report, Providing Quality Education for All Students: A Comprehensive Approach.
“The support of SEMCOG, representing all of Southeast Michigan, is a major endorsement of the School Finance Research Collaborative’s mission to help all public school students achieve and succeed, regardless of their circumstances,” said Dr. Wanda Cook-Robinson, Oakland Schools superintendent and Collaborative member. “This new report signals that key Southeast Michigan stakeholders recognize a top-notch public school education is essential to prepare all students for college and successful careers, and to continue Michigan’s economic comeback.”
The Collaborative, a broad-based and diverse group of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, business leaders and education experts from Metro Detroit to the U.P., is supporting a new school funding adequacy study. The study, which is now underway, is using multiple methodologies to determine the true cost of educating all students.
“In our study of Michigan’s public schools, it quickly became apparent that our current school funding system is broken and obsolete, and that we must return to the drawing board to prepare all students for the 21st century workforce,” said Donald Hubler, co-chairman of the SEMCOG Task Force. “The Collaborative will provide Michigan policymakers with the best, most complete and most accurate information needed to set all students on a path toward bright futures.”
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