Michigan Signature Drive Resurrects Vetoed School Choice Plan

Michigan signature drive resurrects a plan that Gov. Whitmer vetoed to establish a Student Opportunity Scholarship (SOS) program funded by donations.

A Michigan petition drive resurrected the possibility of a major school choice victory when advocates turned in far more signatures than necessary to get two vetoed bills back before the Michigan Legislature.

House Bills 5404 and 5405, establishing a Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarship (SOS) program that would fund education savings accounts (ESA) with state income tax credits for individual and corporate donations to scholarship-granting organizations were passed by the Michigan Legislature in 2021, but vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

However, a provision in the Wolverine State’s constitution allows the Legislature to override a governor’s veto of a bill if enough valid signatures are collected to get the bill back in the Legislature’s hands. If passed again, the bills could not be re-vetoed by the governor.

Let MI Kids Learn, a school choice advocacy group which spearheaded the effort and raised more than $8 million to fund the campaign, collected more than 520,000 signatures, far more than the 340,000 needed. The signatures will be submitted to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, who will review and certify their authenticity. If the signatures pass this review, the bills will be handed back to the Legislature.

“Those fighting for education freedom in Michigan collected 180,000 more signatures than were required, a testament to the hard work of those on the ground fighting for students, and a clear sign that voters want, and families deserve, school choice,” said Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children. “Now, it’s up to the legislature to continue putting kids first and expand education freedom and opportunity in Michigan.”

If the SOS program were enacted, a parent-controlled savings account would be established for each participating child. Parents would then use a state-provided debit card to access the funds to pay for the resources chosen for their child’s unique educational program, such as tuition at a private or parochial school, tutoring, online classes, transportation, specialized therapies, textbooks, uniforms, and even college courses while still in high school. Funds could also be used to pay for fees for norm-referenced tests like the SAT and ACT. Unused SOS funds would also be rolled over from year to year and could be saved to pay for future college expenses.

The SOS program would be funded by donations from Michigan taxpayers, who would receive a one-dollar tax credit for each dollar donated. The budget cap for the program would be $500 million, or less than 1 percent of Michigan’s entire state budget. The program would be available to most Michigan children, with the SOS amount varying by household income, and full funding for children with special needs or who are in foster care. If enacted, it would be one of the country’s largest school choice programs, by funding.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan think tank, found the SOS program would benefit the state fiscally due to by saving public schools the cost of educating the scholarship kids and non-fiscally by providing children the benefits that generally come with education choice programs.

Per-pupil funding in Michigan public schools in Fiscal Year 2021 was $14,191, according to Mackinac. If Michigan enacts an SOS program that funds ESA accounts at 90 percent of the state “foundation allowance” formula—roughly $7,830—and just 5 percent of state students participate (roughly 75,000 students) and the average scholarship is $6,000, it would result in combined savings to local districts and the state government of up to $90 million annually, or $1,213 per pupil.

If roughly 8 percent of Wolverine State public school students participate (roughly 112,500 students) and the average scholarship award is $4,000, the program will generate over $386 million in savings on a yearly basis. This translates to $3,435 in savings per-pupil.

“Michigan Student Opportunity Scholarships would represent a dramatic new way to fund learning by facilitating and incentivizing private donations to aid families directly so they could underwrite the cost of needed educational services,” the report concludes. “Most students would be eligible to benefit from a scholarship, whether enrolled in a public school or not. Enabling parents to have greater say in their children’s learning would help ensure that students get the attention they need to overcome lost learning and get on a successful trajectory.”

The number of signatures collected, if validated, would not be surprising in this purple state, as Michigan’s public schools have not performed well lately. In 2019, only 36 percent of public school fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” at their grade level in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 32 percent of fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading.

This means the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly 7 of 10 Michigan children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math. In the Detroit Public Schools district, the state’s largest, just 6 percent of fourth-graders and 5 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient at their grade level in mathematics on NAEP in 2019. Only 7 percent of fourth-graders and 6 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient in reading.

It is not yet known if the Republican-controlled Legislature will take up the bills again in the 2022 legislative session, or wait until after the dust has settled from the elections this fall and decide the bill’s fate in 2023. GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, Gov. Whitmer’s opponent, has gone on the record in favor of the SOS program.

“The submission of petition signatures means Michigan has cleared a major hurdle and taken one big step closer to education freedom,” said Ben DeGrow, Policy Director of Education Choice for ExcelinEd and former director of education policy for the Mackinac Center. “If pro-school choice majorities return to the legislature next year, it should just be a matter of time before we see the scholarship plan cross the finish line and renew the hopes of the state’s families whose children need extra help to catch up and thrive.”

Others are calling for the Legislature to act with more deliberate haste. “There is plenty of time…to enact these proposals into law before the end of the year,” Let MI Kids Learn spokesman Fred Wszolek told The Center Square. “Special interest groups fought hard to keep this day from ever happening. But you can’t stop an idea whose time has come.”