#factsmatter, The Citizens Research Council Of Michigan Podcast

Gongwer News administration reporter Lily Guiney speaks with Senior Research Director Craig Thiel about his recently published, novel analysis of school-level spending patterns across the largest districts in the state, showing many schools are not being funded equitably. Approximately 55 percent of schools in the state's largest districts do not receive equitable per-pupil funding at the state, local and federal levels. This is at odds with the current school funding policy priorities of Lansing officials. The study found that among the 25 largest school districts in the state, several of which also include some of the largest populations of low-income students, a significant number of them did not disperse per-school funding proportionate to their students' socioeconomic status and needs. “As Michigan policymakers look to continue providing additional state “at-risk” funds to those districts with greater proportions of high-need students, they may have to consider additional policy directives to en