Educational inequality has existed in the Southeast Michigan area of the United States since the birth of institutional, urban schooling in the US. Inequality between lower and higher class districts have perpetuated divisions in educational opportunities and outcomes between Michigan communities, especially areas in and around Detroit, the state's largest city. According to a report by the Kerner Commission from 1967, "spending per pupil in Detroit suburbs was 27% greater than in the city and that spending since World War II had risen more in the suburbs than in the city. (Kerner Report 1968, 435)." More recently, the economic decline of Detroit culminating in the 2013 Detroit bankruptcy has aggravated the educational tensions.
Since it is more common for people of color to be part of the less-affluent communities with fewer educational resources, the phenomenon has also perpetuated opportunity differences between races. The Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954, which banned racial segregation in public schools, did not end this form of educational inequality. The gaps in educational inequality and acquirement negatively affect residents' development into adulthood, specifically when it comes to employment between whites and blacks. According to a study, "In 2014, employed adult black men in metropolitan Detroit earned 56% as much as their white counterparts. In 2014, employed African American women earned 75% as much as white women. Racial differences in education account for a share of the racial gap in earnings."
Background: The impact of Detroit's collapse
Previously home to the Ford Motor Industry, Detroit gained recognition as the country's pinnacle of a thriving domestic labor markets. In its peak, between 1900 and 1950, Detroit's population increased exponentially, encouraging healthy economy and overall quality of life. In current times, "Detroit ranks seventy-third in median income and dead last in the value of its owner-occupied houses. It is the only city in the nation where single parents head the majority of families. And Detroit is more segregated than any other major metropolitan area," according to the Michigan Historical Review. Being that Detroit was once the bustling capital, the hub of south-eastern Michigan economy, the fall of Detroit meant trouble for surrounding areas. Worsened economy meant compromised spending in school systems, especially those that were already less-funded in comparison to more affluent districts. Scholars explain that, "where people live impacts their access to opportunities. Moreover, the geographic distribution of opportunity is particularly important for children because it impacts their schooling experiences." Being that students in poorer communities were those of color, this increased the gap between educational opportunities for white and children of color in Michigan. Black students in particular were left behind when it came to their predominantly African American school. districts.Detroit’s schools, in the past, enrolled the majority of the state’s African American children. Those schools were viewed as so under-performing and poorly run that the state took them over in 1999. Then, in 2008, after many protested, the schools were returned to local control. Problems persisted, however, and in 2011 the state of Michigan took over again. The takeover did not improve achievement levels and generated new debts of about a half billion dollars. The state paid off those debts in 2016 and funded the creation of a new locally run school district (Gray 2016).Since 2016, Betsy DeVos proposed a solution which funded privately operated schools, making them more accessible to students rather than attending "failing" public schools; "State-equalized support for all students ended the situation in which funding for a student's instruction was directly linked to the tax base of the student's district." The plan encouraged more residents of color, and residents in general, to attend academically apt schools.
Impacts of race on educational inequality Detroit became the final destination of many African Americans involved in The Great Migration, most of whom moved into predominantly black neighborhoods; this demographic change in Michigan's population affected the degree of segregation in all aspects, including education. Un-welcomed into white communities, African American families were forced to send their children to lower quality schools within their poorer districts, affecting educational opportunity significantly. In 1974, US Supreme Court case Milliken v. Bradley dealt with educational inequality and the accessibility of education to students of color among 50 school districts in Southeast Michigan. In conjunction with the changes that Brown v. Board of Education implemented in 1954, this court case sought to discuss the organized, segregated bussing by public schools which perpetuated racial inequality in educational systems. The court ruled that schools were, "not obligated to desegregate unless it had been proven that the lines were drawn with racist intent on the part of the districts." See Milliken v. Bradley. In short, very little changed since no solution was addressed to combat district segregation, not included in racist segregation but also a major roadblock in terms of educational inequality. State decisions like these influenced educational standards by normalizing segregation and continue to impact education today.
Education in Southeast Michigan Literacy rates Detroit public schools have high illiteracy rates and low academic performance compared to cities across the United States; "eighth graders scored lowest in math and reading in the nation." According to the National Institute for Literacy, 47% (200,000) of adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate, and half of the 200,000 adults do not have a high school diploma or GED, showing that the lack of these skills learned in an academic setting is generationally embedded into different groups of society.
Mark Rosenbaum, a director of Public Counsel Opportunity Under Law, is concerned about the "mis-education" of America, claiming that the institution of public education constitutes a large range of inequality. Rosenbaum focuses on disadvantaged communities like Detroit, where not only almost half of the population are not functionally literate, but 40.3% also live in poverty. Little government interaction or solutions to this issue adds to the inequality of opportunity faced by public school students in Detroit, who are unable to access the education received by children who live just outside of Detroit in Livonia, Novi, or Ann Arbor.
Teacher vacancies, poor heating and cooling infrastructure, and lack of textbooks and materials are environmental features that contribute to the inequality of opportunity that exists in Detroit public schools, relating to low levels of academic achievement. This violates the constitutional rights of attending students. Public counsel and educational policy makers avoid resolving this matter as part of litigation processes, arguing that the state can't be held responsible for illiteracy.
Policy The state of Michigan passed a law to allow teachers without proper credentials to teach in classrooms; as a result, Detroit public schools have seen an increase in teachers who hold a bachelor's degree, but no certifications related to teaching.
Racial and socioeconomic inequalities that have been worsened by educational policy changes in the 21st century are not limited to any one intersection of identities. The Latino community in Detroit has voiced their concerns in response to the impacts of changes made to standardized testing and teacher assessments in public schools. These changes were made by the Obama administration in an attempt to hold schools, teachers, and students more accountable in hope of improving achievement scores.
70% of the students who identify as Latino are also defined as economically disadvantaged, and testing scores in 2012 show rates of less than 30% proficiency in all subjects tested, a common problem in Detroit public schools. Resistance efforts made by the youth of these communities communicate that policy reforms have created the need for more police enforcement, caused overcrowding, and under-resourced classrooms in certain schools, despite their intentions. Protests and walk-outs are some forms of backlash that students have used to demonstrate their frustrations in an attempt to communicate that the policies that may work for communities with different hardships and resources do not work for them.
School funding In Michigan, Proposal A was approved in 1994. It drastically changed funding method for public education and led to lower property taxes, reducing inequalities in per-pupil funding across local districts.
However, there are different effects among regions. In the south and west of the state, a greater percentage of local funding was supported by property tax revenues in 1989-90 than 2002–03. In addition, a smaller percentage of the total revenue was supported by the states, while that by deferral sources increased. After Proposal A was passed, less education revenue came from local sources such as local property taxes, while more came from foundation allowances from the state. This change in the sources of revenue consequently leveled the revenue across districts.
The number of students in public schools declined because families tried to search for jobs outside of the state just after the Great Recession. This outflow of workers and recession in Michigan decreased tax revenues that financially support the public schools. This downward trend has dramatically changed since 2009, and unemployment rates in Southeastern Michigan have improved from 16% in 2008 to less than 5% in 2017. This economic recovery contributed to an increase in tax revenues, and therefore it enhanced the budget for education in Michigan.
Inequality in funding In Michigan, the inequality in per-pupil based funding has decreased after Proposal A's passage. Before Proposal A was approved, 80% of Michigan school operating funds came from local property taxes. This funding structure was the main cause of unequal funding, because property values differed across local districts. After Proposal A passed, new funding sources such as state income taxes, sales taxes, and education property taxes created another $11 billion annual fund for public school districts, which decreased the disparities in funding across local districts. As a result, the vast majority of schools were funded within a significantly narrower range in 2009. According to the House Fiscal Agency, 80% of all districts (including charter public schools) receive between $7,100 and $7,400 per student through the foundation allowance formula; 94% fell between $7,100 and $8,500 in 2010. However, if the funding per pupil in each district is considered, there is a significant difference in Southeast Michigan districts. The table below shows that the revenue per pupil in Branch was more than three times higher than that of Wayne in 2005–06.
+ Per-pupil funding, by school district School district General fund Special education fund Vocational education fund Cooperative education fund Total Rank Branch531.991533.78925.9103011.681 Calhoun253.141260.01285.0474.341872.538 Hillsdale265.251278.46193.0201736.739 Huron271.331668.85544.2119.42603.782 Jackson324.701453.5242002198.234 Lenawee390.91381.46612.7702385.133 Lewis Cass454.91918.640539.731913.287 Livingston241.591058.57001300.1613 Macomb184.531054.74001239.2715 Monroe481.741446.83001928.576 Oakland152.121063.92227.801433.8412 St. Clair332.92925.89247.7401506.5511 St. Joseph179.08825.18238.7301242.9914 Van Buren360.71149.12515.4202022.245 Washtenaw107.121481.58001588.710 Wayne75.78834.7020.51930.9916
Impact on college education gap