Michigan school leaders urge easing pupil-accounting and seat-time rules to spur innovation

Bob Kefchyan, associate director of government relations for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and the Department of Education on Oct. 12 that Michigan’s regulatory framework — especially the state pupil-accounting rules and combined days-and-hours requirement — creates practical barriers to nontraditional instruction.

Kefchyan said Michigan requires 180 days and 1,098 hours of student contact time — “the highest combination of required days and hours of any state in the nation” — and that the state’s Pupil Accounting Manual (which he described as a 179-page document with 27 subsections) forces districts to account for multiple nontraditional pathways with overlapping rules. “Our pupil accounting system, which relies on attendance, not learning, is a barrier to improved outcomes that require innovation,” Kefchyan told the subcommittee.

Why it matters: Kefchyan said the rules make it difficult for districts to adopt competency-based learning, flexible scheduling, virtual instruction, dual enrollment and work-based learning without risking loss of funding or incurring financial penalties. He recommended short- and long-term changes the Legislature could consider to give districts room to pilot…