Public School Districts In Michigan

Say goodbye to Michigan teachers: As school budgets shrink, so do their numbers

Teachers are leaving Michigan in droves, and over at Rockford Public Schools, superintendent Michael Shibler is grouchy about it.

There are great teachers out there, but he can't hire any of them. He had to lay 25 teachers off this year.

“My concern is that when we do have openings, when people retire, we’ll want the cream of the crop to choose from,” Shibler said, “but they’ll all have left the state.”

Hundreds of new teachers are leaving Michigan for positions in other states, a reflection of Michigan’s wealth of teaching colleges, shrinking number of students and budget woes that have forced schools to cut staffs.

Since peaking at 117,973 in the 2004-05 academic year, the number of public school teachers in Michigan has shrunk by nearly 9 percent, a loss of about 10,000 jobs, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information. That number tracks the 8 percent drop in public school students, to 1.56 million, that Michigan has seen over the past five years.

But the drop in teachers also is partly due to shrinking state support for public education.

School districts this fall must absorb a cut of at least $370 per student that’s part of an overall 2.2 percent cut in state funding, plus rising costs for teacher pensions, technology and books. Hundreds of teachers have been handed pink slips as districts pore over the numbers and decide how many they can hire back this fall.

Rockford's Shibler said he can bring back 10, but only because of some retirements.

He's been a vocal critic of the state's funding cuts to K-12 education – money that should go to paying top-quality teachers, he said.

“80 percent of a school district’s budget is people, and it should be people,” Shibler said.

A recent survey the district took of Rockford graduates now in the job market showed 100 of the 150 respondents left the state for jobs, he said.

“Those kids who responded were our top kids,” he said. “We’re not just losing people -- we’re losing our top people.

“We want high quality people,” Shibler said, “but we don’t have jobs available.”

“I talk a lot to our legislators, and I’m tired of hearing rhetoric lip service that we value the future of our young people,” Shibler said, “but they continue to take money away that should be going to K-12 education. Our lawmakers in Lansing need to reevaluate their priorities.

Number of Public School Teachers Declining, But Michigan ...

Since peaking at 117,973 in the 2004-05 academic year, the number of public school teachers in Michigan has shrunk by nearly 9%, a loss of about 10,000 jobs, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information. That number tracks the 8% drop in public school students, to 1.56 million, that Michigan has seen over the past five years.

But the drop in teachers also is partly attributable to shrinking state support for public education. School districts this fall must absorb a cut of at least $370 per student that's part of an overall 2.2% cut in state funding, plus rising costs for teacher pensions, technology and books. Hundreds of teachers have been handed pink slips as districts pore over the numbers and decide how many they can hire back this fall.

For the full article, see Kathy Barks Hoffman, "Michigan teachers continue to leave for other states" , Detroit Free Press, August 6, 2011.

School Districts in Michigan, Detroit Public Schools, List of Public School Academy Districts in Michigan

American public school law

K-12 public education in Michigan, selected characteristics and services by county and school district

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