Today is Count Day here in Michigan. That's when every student sitting at his or her desk translates into state dollars for that district.
Across the state, schools are using a variety of tactics to ensure maximum attendance, including robocalls to parents, picture days and prizes for kids who turn up to school.
Bridge Magazine education writer Chastity Pratt Dawsey joined us today to talk about school funding and how Count Day became so important for Michigan schools.
“The majority of state funding is going to be determined on today’s count,” she told us.
And Count Day is just as important for charter schools as it is for traditional public schools, according to Dawsey.
“You’re talking about schools that are not able to get capital improvement millages. You're talking about charter schools that, you know, they're losing students as well," she said. “And also charter schools don't have as much funding as some of our districts across the state.”
Dawsey tells us more in our conversation above.
(Subscribe to the Stateside podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or with this RSS link)
