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Superintendents’ Future Learning Council urges Michigan shift from seat-time to competency-based learning
Summary
Presenters from the Future Learning Council told a House appropriations subcommittee the state’s seat-time funding model impedes personalized, competency-based instruction and asked lawmakers to support small strategic grants, pilot districts and policy changes to scale the approach.
Chairman Kelly convened the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and the Department of Education hearing with a series of presentations on K‑12 innovation, and members of the Future Learning Council used their time to press for a statewide move away from seat-time funding toward competency-based mastery learning.
An Unidentified Speaker representing the Future Learning Council said the network began about eight years ago, now includes roughly 80 school districts and intermediate districts, and is organized to help districts design local demonstration sites that reduce the system’s reliance on time-in-seat accounting under the State Aid Act. The council described a three-cohort model—discover, design and thrive—augmented by coaching and micro-credentials for educators and asked for “small pockets of funding” to seed district transformations.
Dr. Lori Haven, superintendent of Perry Public Schools, described multi‑year, classroom-level changes in a small, higher‑poverty district and linked the council’s approach to teacher retention and improved instructional practice. “We know that our kids deserve better,” Haven said, describing how principals and teacher leaders adopted project-based, student-centered learning and used micro‑credentials and coaching to shift adult practice.
Committee members pressed presenters on evidence and scale. The council highlighted visiting demonstration sites and national partners as sources of proof of concept but stopped short of presenting statewide student‑level outcomes tied directly to funding changes. The council framed the change as urgent, citing AI and workforce shifts as reasons Michigan cannot rely indefinitely on a Carnegie-era time-based model.
The meeting produced no formal action on policy; council leaders asked lawmakers to partner on policy, advocacy and modest strategic investment to allow more districts to pilot competency systems. The committee will decide separately whether to include related spending or statutory changes in future appropriation bills.
