Two years into the first Democratic government trifecta in 40 years, Michigan remains in the bottom half of states for teachers, according to a new analysis.
While Michigan Democrats took over full control of the state’s government in 2022 with strong support from the state’s teachers unions, an analysis from the personal finance website WalletHub released on Monday shows teachers fare better in most other states based on “24 key indicators of teacher-friendliness.”
“Despite having one of the most crucial jobs in America – educating the next generation – teachers are often underpaid and underappreciated,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “The states that make a teaching career the most rewarding are those that compensate educators well, invest heavily in educational resources, pass laws that improve school-system quality, and provide supportive conditions that lead to low turnover.”
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The data – which ranged from income growth, to pupil-teacher ratio, to public school spending per student – was compiled for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to rank the “Best & Worst States for Teachers” in 2024. The analysis also produced individual rankings for two categories: “opportunity and competition” and “academic and work environment.”
Overall, WalletHub ranked Michigan 28th, landing the Great Lakes States among the worst nationally for teachers.
Michigan ranked ahead Midwest states of Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, but behind Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
Michigan also ranked 28th for academic and work environment, while for opportunity and competition it ranked 31st.
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A breakdown of the study’s metrics shows four out of five of the states with the lowest per-pupil funding, and four out of five with the highest student-teacher ratios, ranked better than Michigan.
WalletHub named New York the best state for teachers, followed by Washington, Virginia, Utah, Maryland, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, California and Indiana in the top 10. The worst was Maine, followed by Hawaii, New Hampshire, Nevada, Tennessee, District of Columbia, South Dakota, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in the bottom 10.
Marybeth Gasman, professor at Rutgers’ Graduate School of Education, identified student mental health as one of the biggest issues facing educators today.
“Since Covid, there are vast mental health issues, and most schools have one counselor for 1,000+ students,” she said. “Much of the work around mental health falls on teachers.”
Research has linked the mental health issues to isolation from the pandemic, and Michigan students missed far more in-person instruction under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer than most other states.
The impact is still obvious years later, both in terms of nosediving academics and student mental health.
Reports of threats and violence in schools were up 31% between 2022 and 2023, according to the 2023 Annual Report for Michigan’s nationally recognized OK2SAY program.
In 2023, the state received 9,686 tips spanning 30 categories involving student safety and mental health issues, including 1,769 that involved bullying, 1,482 dealing with suicide, 1,286 about drugs, 815 regarding sexual assault or exploitation, and 741 detailing threats to individuals.
“As we see increasing reports of suicide, bullying, drugs, assault, and self-harm, we must keep investing in mental supports for our kids,” Whitmer said in a statement on July 22.
The same week, the governor signed a record $82.5 billion state budget, approved by the state’s Democratic legislative majority, that gutted more than $300 million in school mental health and safety funding.
The budget also held per-pupil funding flat for the first time since 2011.
The state is now partnering with AmeriCorps to install 18-24 year olds as “mental health navigators” in public schools to “help fill the gap in the professional mental health care shortage and make connections with youth,” executive director Ginna Holmes said in a statement.
“We are proud to be part of this groundbreaking partnership and look forward to seeing the impact it will have on Michigan’s future,” she said.