The Education Trust-Midwest: Standing Up For Equity in Education
As the effects of coronavirus continue to compound, Ballmer Group grantee The Education Trust-Midwest is fighting to shield underserved students in Michigan from the effects of state budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
As the effects of coronavirus continue to compound, Ballmer Group grantee The Education Trust-Midwest is fighting to shield underserved students in Michigan from the effects of state budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
The Education Trust-Midwest is using its expertise in research, policy development, and advocacy to stand up for these students. Michigan’s state leaders are in an extremely challenging position: trying to balance the economic realities of coronavirus while effectively serving people across the state.
But The Education Trust-Midwest’s research shows this crisis also presents an opportunity: State leaders can consider solutions rooted in equity, to ensure that communities that have historically been underinvested in and underserved by Michigan’s education funding system—typically in low-income and rural areas—are funded fairly in any immediate budgeting decisions.
The Time Is Now: COVID-19 and Fair Funding, a report published by The Education Trust-Midwest, illustrates how Michigan’s current “equal funding” model for education falls far short in providing the equitable outcomes for which our state should strive. The report provides specific recommendations and a fair funding scale model that state leaders can apply to budgeting decisions. Businesses, civil rights organizations, and community leaders have all joined The Education Trust-Midwest to advocate for solutions outlined in the report as part of the Opportunity for All campaign.
Amber Arellano, executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest, said it best: “We have to take a hard look at our longstanding systemic injustices and choose to invest in public education, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the opportunity divide among Michigan’s students. The time to address these inequities is now. But, if budget cuts are necessary, Michigan’s leaders should provide more support for high-need students that have been underserved for decades. We are calling on state leaders to create Opportunity for All.”
While Ballmer Group focuses on economic mobility in Southeast Michigan, inequitable funding and resources for education in Michigan is not just a Detroit problem. Solutions begin at the state level. Low-income students live across our state, and they are represented by decisionmakers across the political spectrum. In fact, rural communities in Michigan are among our most under-resourced and disconnected from support. This is a problem that impacts every kind of community, and this can pave the way for a bipartisan, statewide effort to direct resources to low-income students both in Detroit and every corner of the state.
The Education Trust-Midwest’s work underscores that it is time for Michigan’s state government to address its flawed system of public education funding. In the context of COVID-19, that may mean equitably cutting school budgets instead of Michigan’s standard across-the-board cuts, which are applied uniformly regardless of student income level or need.
That’s why we are proud to support The Education Trust-Midwest’s work in Michigan, alongside grantees including the Michigan League for Public Policy, the Detroit Children’s Fund, the Community Education Commission, City Year Detroit and Michigan College Access Network. These organizations have been leaders on combating education disparities in our state, publishing research, and advocating for more equitable funding and policies, better education programing, diverse teachers, and more. COVID-19 laid bare the inequality built into our communities, and, as we work to address the pandemic’s impacts, we must take the lead of those communities and the organizations that fight for them.
