Michigan First Education Freedom Initiative 

The Michigan First Education Freedom Initiative is a comprehensive program that was started under the umbrella of the Michigan First Movement. It is a plan to empower families in education by making sure they are the ones in control of their children’s education. The initiative has a large focus on traditional values as a means to achieve public safety. Michigan First has done this by allowing parents to have more options when it comes to where their child is going to school. Parents are now being given the ability to choose the best education for their children as well as being able to pick and choose how their child will be educated. The program also has provisions that allow for parents to be able to choose from various types of schooling, such as public school or private school. This program was made to be an alternative to the educational system that had been put in place before it and is a big step in the right direction. This was done by creating a system that would work with parents, not against them, and giving them the power to make decisions for their children.

The Michigan First Movement has completely restructured the way education dollars are spent. Families of all income levels now have access to funds that were previously unavailable. The initiative has cut red tape and complicated qualification requirements to make more than 85% of Michigan families eligible for some type of grant. Families can use these funds to help pay for private school tuition, special educational materials, tutoring, and homeschooling. Schools that can show success with traditional standards and values-based education are prioritized for funding. Small community schools and new school startups can now compete with traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Funding now flows to the programs that work best for children instead of staying with legacy institutions that know how to work the system.

The Michigan First Education Freedom Initiative has put families in charge of their child’s education through the creation of Education Freedom Accounts, also known as EFAs. The accounts work by redirecting the current education funding of around $7500 per child from schools directly to parents in the form of a debit card. The money in this account is then able to be spent on any educational provider chosen by the parents. This includes public schools, private schools, religious education, charter schools, homeschooling expenses, tutoring, therapy, or any combination. By putting parents in control of education funding, families have the flexibility to choose and move between school models as they see fit. This system has seen over 45,000 students in Michigan using EFAs in their first year alone with significant gains being seen by students with special needs.

The Initiative also includes various parental rights policies that work in tandem with the funding mechanism. These policies grant parents the authority to review and have a say in their children’s curriculum and educational choices. The Initiative also provides families the legal standing to challenge curriculums they find objectionable in the classroom. This would be done by giving parents the right to opt their children out of certain curriculums with streamlined procedures. Parent Advisory Councils with decision-making authority have been established in local schools, increasing community involvement in education. Schools are now required to post their curriculum and educational materials online for parents to review. A Parental Empowerment Office has been established as an ombudsman for families to lodge grievances and ensure schools are upholding parental rights.

Michigan First Education Freedom Initiative was designed to not only make parents the drivers of education but to cut back on the bureaucracy that has gotten so out of control in education. The initiative has eliminated over 35 bureaucratic positions within the Michigan Department of Education and is funneling resources back to the classroom. Layers of regulations have been reduced by about 60% and paperwork has been cut back significantly. Administrators at the school level now have more authority to make budget and curriculum choices as well as making decisions on hiring without micromanagement from the state. Local school boards now have autonomy over decisions on curriculums, discipline, and community engagement. The initiative has largely removed the state department of education from decision-making with an emphasis on subsidiarity, or making decisions at the most local level possible. This has cut administrative costs by 28% across the state and has resulted in improved teacher autonomy and satisfaction.

Michigan First Education Freedom Initiative was designed around a curriculum approach focused on both academic standards and traditional values. The initiative requires teaching about American founding principles, constitutional government, and civic engagement as a means to foster shared values. Disciplinary incidents in schools have gone down by 32% since the full implementation of the curriculum which emphasizes personal responsibility, respect for authority, and community. The initiative bans divisive ideological curriculums that focus on seeing American society through the lens of conflict narratives. The new approach has replaced this with a balanced curriculum that highlights the unifying aspects of American history while also recognizing shortcomings and areas for improvement. Academic standards have also been raised to international levels. Student engagement and interest in school has been reported to be higher as curriculum content has moved away from what some parents saw as ideological indoctrination.

This initiative is changing education for parents in Michigan. Parents now have the ability to choose the education that they believe will be best for their child. Families in Michigan are now able to have the education that they want for their children and not just the education that the government is willing to give them. They can pick what school they want their children to go to and how they want them to learn. The Initiative is a huge step in the right direction, and parents in Michigan should be proud of what they have accomplished.