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MDE cites multi-year pipeline rebuilding as key to fixing Michigan teacher shortage
Summary
State officials told the House Oversight Committee recent investments have increased teacher preparation but that Michigan remains below historical prep numbers and needs sustained funding for scholarships, loan repayment and grow-your-own programs.
Michigan Department of Education leaders told the House Oversight Committee that reversing the teacher shortage requires sustained, multi-year investments across scholarships, loan repayment, induction and grow-your-own programs.
State Superintendent Michael Rice said the number of people preparing to be teachers fell from about 23,000 in 2011 to 9,500 in a subsequent five-year period after budget cuts and benefit changes. “In the last six years, there’s been an increase in the number of people preparing for the profession,” Rice said, but he emphasized the pipeline has not yet fully recovered.
Rice outlined the department’s recent and requested investments: roughly $1 billion over the last three fiscal years targeted at scholarships and fellowships, student-teacher stipends, student loan repayment, per-pupil compensation increases, mentoring and induction, and pilot credentialing hubs. He cited $575,000,000 in fiscal year 2023 for scholarships and related supports and approximately $448,000,000 in fiscal year 2024.
The department credited grow-your-own programs and district partnerships (including programs in urban and rural districts such as Benton Harbor, Flint, Detroit, Kalamazoo and others) for incremental gains: Rice said 6,000 people benefited from fellowships or scholarships in the past three years and 7,500 from student-teacher stipends in a recent semester. The department also noted a 34% increase in teachers of color (2,272 additional teachers) in recent years.
Committee members asked about accountability and outcomes. Representative Paquette and others urged clearer measures tying funding to improved classroom outcomes; Rice responded that investments take time to affect in-classroom staffing and that many districts still employ teachers under temporary permits.
Provenance: Superintendent Rice’s presentation and related Q&A on teacher-preparation counts and recent funding (transcript blocks s=1510.71 through s=1761.055).
