Nearly a billion dollars in state funding to train and retain Michigan public school teachers is starting to help schools address staffing shortages, according to the state, although a spokesperson for a prominent teachers union said greater success will follow with more funding.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael F. Rice, speaking after announcing the statewide Teacher of the Year at Rochester High School Tuesday, said the funding included by legislators in the State School Aid Act the last two fiscal years is helping address Michigan’s “teacher shortage."
“We underfunded public education in this state for many years,” Rice said. “We are rebuilding the funding and, by extension, rebuilding the staffing as we speak.”
The Michigan Department of Education said the state spent $175 million in fiscal year 2023 to develop “Grow Your Own” programs that help schools create a pipeline training program for school support staff interested in becoming fully certified teachers.
Teachers, under law, are required to complete state-approved preparation programs and pass a test to gain teacher certification, along with other requirements. But the state also offers permits for substitute teachers which only require 60 college credits. By meeting other progressive requirements, a substitute teacher could work in a school district for up to four years.
Rice said there are 85,000 teachers in Michigan. He said the funding for training programs, and addressing the state’s “teacher shortage," is about getting more long-term substitute teachers trained to become fully certified.
The state also included $225 million in fiscal year 2024 to help certified teachers pay down their student loans. Rice said that’s meant to help school districts keep from losing staff.
“Once you become certified the good news is you’re a regular teacher. The bad news is the salaries aren’t that high,” Rice said. “(Teacher student loan repayment) is not a recruitment effort, that’s a retention effort.”
A spokesperson for the Michigan Education Association union, which says it represents roughly 120,000 teachers, education support staff, and higher-education workers across the state, said with the funding and new training and retention programs, the state is making progress, but the problems aren’t solved.
“We continue to struggle in districts across the state with the shortage of teachers, as well as a shortage of support staffing, coaches, bus drivers, and right on down the line,” said Thomas Morgan with the MEA.
Morgan said another challenge for schools trying to fill staffing shortages is the localized nature of school district administration.
“They all have different pay levels, different benefit packages,” Morgan said. “And so in a way they are in competition with each other as well as the private sector, for talent.”
Other teacher training and retention programs funded the past two state budgets include:
- $330 million combined in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 for “Michigan Educator Fellowships” -- which are ten-thousand dollar college scholarships for future educators.
- $100 million for “MI Future Educator Stipends” which offer $9,600 stipends to student teachers.
- $76 million for the “Talent Together” program, meant to help school employees earn teacher certification through partnerships with intermediate school districts and educator preparation institutions.
- $15 million in grants for the “Rural Educator Credentialing Hub” to help workers in rural schools become certified through a consortium of of training institutions and rural school districts. This effort is being led by Central Michigan University, according to the state education department.
- $50 million in grants for school districts to provide mentoring and other support for new teachers and support staff.
