Optimize project urges continued School Aid Act funding as it reports progress on special-education workforce

Optimize, the state-commissioned special-education capacity project, updated the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and the Department of Education on May 13, saying it has identified 127 barriers to Michigan’s special-education system and is pursuing targeted action teams, a statewide behavior-training plan and a recruiting campaign supported by a new job portal.

The presentation, given by Laurie Vander Ploeg, project consultant for Optimize, and Kathy Fortino, project manager for Optimize, reported that the initiative—created through line 94d of the School Aid Act—started work in 2022 and has received follow-up appropriations. Vander Ploeg told the committee “this is really a project that's intended to build statewide capacity.”

Why it matters: members of the committee pressed Optimize on how much longer state funding can sustain the effort and on how the project measures impact. Optimize said the most recent appropriation totaled $1 million and, accounting for carryover and current spending, “we have probably 2 years or so left” of funding and “may get through to 2027.” Committee members signaled support for continued funding if needed to preserve implementation gains.

Most important facts

- Scope and organization: Optimize convened a task force, a core team and multiple action teams to tackle the state’s special-education workforce and service challenges. The task force includes K–12 systems, institutes of higher…