The Michigan Department of Education is promoting a report that says the state’s K-12 schools need $23 billion in infrastructure upgrades although schools haven’t yet spent all of the $5.6 billion in federal pandemic relief they received.
The MDE published a press release April 21 that supported the findings of a $20 million taxpayer-funded study overseen by the School Finance Research Foundation, a non-profit run by current and former public school superintendents.
The School Finance Research Foundation is a non-profit affiliated with the School Finance Research Collaborative, which released a 2018 study that said to adequately educate a student, the state should spend an additional $3.6 billion a year.
The 2025 study’s goal was to give an idea on the total cost required “through either new construction or repairs on existing facilities, to bring all K-12 public school buildings in Michigan to a common standard of health, safety, and wellness.”
