The Michigan Legislature passed legislation in October 2021 to create the Student Opportunity Scholarship Program, which would give thousands of families across the state more spending power to help meet their children's educational needs. This report unpacks this proposed education savings account program and analyzes its potential fiscal impacts.

This report argues that the Michigan state constitution's "Blaine Amendment," a provision which prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system, is superseded by the United States Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in the case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The report discusses a legislative…

This report includes the latest information about how investment in early childhood education (ECE) correlates to school success and economic development. Members of state boards of education know that quality experiences have the largest impact on student outcomes. This report outlines quality in ECE, highlighting challenges that every state…

According to data collected by the state, Michigan has 601 private schools that enroll about 113,000 students--about 7 percent of all students in the state. All but 14 of Michigan's 84 counties have at least one private school operating within their boundaries. Despite the fact that private schools in Michigan are widespread, there is very little…

Issues concerning new tuition savings plans are considered, along with illustrations from four plans. A prepayment model plan and an update on federal legislation affecting savings plans are also presented. Financial issues for families, tax issues, and financial issues for colleges are covered. The idea behind parental savings plans is to allow…

Intended for use by cooperative education program coordinators, this module deals with the United States Revenue Act of 1978 as it pertains to vocational cooperative education program enrollees and to employers sponsoring such programs in Michigan. The module, which is designed to be a self-paced instructional package, contains a pre-test, answer…

This primer explains school choice, historically reviewing the origins and growth of tax-funded schools nationwide and how they became synonymous with public education. It examines the rise of government-funded and operated schools in Michigan through the efforts of Isaac Crary and John Pierce and describes the negative effects of a 1970 state…

This report presents a proposal to expand parental choice in Michigan education by amending the Michigan Constitution and establishing a Universal Tuition Tax Credit (UTTC). Section 1 reviews why parental choice is the most important systemic education reform and evaluates various ways to expand it. Section 2 examines Michigan's constitutional…

This study discusses whether two tax programs instituted by local communities in Michigan to generate local economic activity have adversely affected local public elementary and secondary school financing. Analysis of the effects on school funding of The Plant Rehabilitation and Industrial Development Law of 1974 and its expansion in Act 255 of…

The effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs was examined by using a hypothetical-firm model called the Tax and Incentives Model-Enterprise Zones (TAIM-ez) model to analyze the value of enterprise zone incentives to businesses across the United States and especially in the 13 states that had substantial enterprise zone programs by 1990. The…