A letter from the Executive Director

Dear friends,

Today Michigan is one of the lowest performing states in the nation for student improvement. Once we were the envy of many states for our public education system. Today we are facing an educational recession that is taking a terrible toll on our state’s future, our workforce and especially, our children.   

The good news is, we can change this.  And we can do it in a relatively short amount of time. Leading education states such as Massachusetts and Tennessee show that when we work together, we can transform our schools, raise our teaching and learning – and do best by our children, educators and public institutions.  

Over the last month, we’ve had the blessing of traveling across the state to share these findings based on our new 2014 State of Michigan Education report. Civic leaders, journalists, grassroots activists, educators, parents – we have been buoyed by the reception and the quality of conversations that we have had about these issues. Michiganders truly care about their schools – and they support sensible strategies and investments for improvement.  

From Nolan Finley of the Detroit News to the Detroit Free Press editorial board, leaders have been calling for the Michigan legislature to continue to lead – and do its part by investing in such smart strategies. The time to invest in a new educator support and evaluation system – and quality training for educators – has come this spring. We also need to ensure Michigan stays on track to implement new college- and career-ready standards in all of our schools.

We encourage you to reach out to your local lawmakers and leaders to urge them to invest in these proven strategies that are paying off for raising teaching and learning in leading states.  

We turned around our economy.  We can do it with our public schools.  

Thank you for reading – and for your efforts to support all of our students.  

All the best,
Amber

Overcoming Michigan's "education recession"

Released in early April, ETM's 2014 State of Michigan Education report -- “Stalled to Soaring:  Michigan’s Path to Educational Recovery” -- is the result of months of research and a year of Ed Trust-Midwest’s efforts to monitor where Michigan is making progress on improving public education.

The report has been covered by media outlets across the state.  Some highlights:

Detroit Free Press

• What Michigan can learn from leading education states Op-ed by Amber Arellano & Sarah Lenhoff

Detroit News

• Editorial: What Michigan can learn from Tennessee, others Detroit News Editorial Board

MLive/ Bridge Magazine

• How does Michigan get a world-class education system? Charter schools aren't panacea, report says Brian Smith
   
• It’s not just Detroit:  Students across Michigan have fallen below the national average in core skills Ron French
   
• West Michigan, other state students suffering in 'education recession,' report says Monica Scott

Michigan Radio

• Report: Michigan students spent the past decade losing ground Steve Carmody
   
• New education report shows Michigan is still in "education recession" Stateside staff
   
• Tennessee once lagged Michigan in education. Now it's a national leader, while Michigan falls behind Dustin Dwyer

Other media outlets

• Michigan Education Report Detroit Public Television
   
• Michigan students falling behind nationally; what can be done? Glenn Gilbert, Between Extremes blog
   
• Michigan not up to par in education with other states, but there is hope Diana Dillaber Murray, The Morning Sun
   
• Why Are Michigan Students Falling Behind? The Craig Fahle show, WDET