“The House is on Fire” | Solving Michigan’s Education Crises 

• Sustained investment in proven programs and a commitment to include all demographic groups are essential for long-term improvement in Michigan’s education system. 

• Michigan’s drop in per capita income rankings and lagging K-12 performance signal an urgent need for action. The direct link between educational attainment and economic prosperity means that reversing these trends is vital for the state’s future competitiveness and ability to attract talent. 

• Amid challenges, the University of Detroit Mercy’s successes in enrollment growth, student outcomes, and serving first-generation students provide a model for how educational institutions can drive progress despite statewide difficulties. 

View the full session recording below.

During a panel led by BridgeDetroit and Detroit PBS’s Stephen Henderson, four education leaders discussed Michigan’s challenges in K-12 performance and per capita income, emphasizing equity-centered policy and innovation. The conversation highlighted urgent issues alongside successful strategies and potential solutions for improving outcomes for students and talent across the state.

Sen. Sarah Anthony, a key voice in education policy, emphasized that the issue is not that the “house is on fire,” but rather that the system is “unfocused.” She pointed to the lack of consistent, bipartisan policy initiatives and the need for sustained investment and ownership of successful programs like the Michigan Reconnect Scholarship.

“If we can use our precious, financial resources as a state to actually move the needle on college access and attainment, we should do that, regardless of if we’re on the Republican or Democratic side,” she said.

Anthony cautioned that maintaining consistency across all demographic groups is essential when implementing educational reforms, noting that inequity remains a significant challenge. She explained that politicians often focus on branding new initiatives, but in doing so, students, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, risk being overlooked or excluded.

“When I look at things through a racial equity lens, I know who gets left behind,” she said. “It’s Black and Brown young people who would be first in their family to go to college or are from low-income families. The brand doesn’t need to change, but the investment needs to be consistent.”

The Detroit Regional Chamber’s Greg Handel stressed the sense of urgency around the state’s declining performance in per capita income rankings, from 34th to 40th., as released in the Chamber’s 2025 State of Education and Talent report.

Handel emphasized that this decline was not sudden, but rather a gradual process that went unnoticed for too long.

“We’ve said, ‘hey now, we’ve gone from 34th to 38th in per capita income.’ People kind of shrugged,” he said. “When we hit 40, somehow round numbers seemed to capture people’s imagination. So, when we released the report back in November … that is resonating with people. When people understand there’s a problem, I think it was a wake-up call.”

Handel discussed the direct connection between educational attainment and economic prosperity, saying that the state is currently missing two-thirds of its potential workforce due to insufficient post-high school completion rates.

“If you stack up states or regions and rank them by their per capita income, that’s what their postsecondary attainment rate is,” he said. “There is no such thing as a state that is not highly educated or a region that’s not highly educated that is prosperous.”

Business Leaders For Michigan’s Jeff Donofrio provided a sobering assessment of the state’s K-12 educational performance, highlighting that Michigan has fallen to the bottom 10 states, with Mississippi now outperforming the state in literacy. He emphasized the need to implement high standards for high school diplomas and adopt a “Michigan miracle” approach to tackling literacy, similar to the efforts in other states.

The implications of Michigan’s educational shortcomings are not confined to the classroom, however, with the business community also being directly impacted.

Donofrio cited his board members, who collectively influence about 40% of Michigan’s economy, expressing that recruiting top executives from outside the state is increasingly difficult, largely due to concerns about the quality of Michigan’s K-12 education. He pointed out that Michigan’s students are, on average, two to three years behind their peers in other states, which deters top talent from relocating to Michigan.

“It’s not just about educating our own residents and ensuring they have the skills needed to secure high-paying jobs or create those jobs here,” Donofrio explained. “It’s also about attracting people to the state.”

The University of Detroit Mercy’s Donald B. Taylor provided a more optimistic perspective to the discussion, highlighting the university’s “offensive” approach and its focus on opportunities and innovation.

“Where most of my colleagues see challenge after challenge, I see a lot of opportunities,” he said.

He credited the university’s entrepreneurial spirit and innovative mindset, sharing that Detroit Mercy has achieved three consecutive years of record-breaking new student enrollments, the highest numbers since the merger of U of D and Mercy in 1990. The momentum continued last winter, with an increase of approximately 360 students.

The university’s progress extends beyond enrollment growth, however.

According to Taylor, Detroit Mercy has also experienced improved national rankings and a strong commitment to serving first-generation and Pell-eligible students. He attributed this to the university’s robust partnerships, accelerated professional degree programs, and guaranteed internships and co-ops, which have led to high post-graduation employment and earnings outcomes for its students.

“I think you’re only limited by your imagination, and we’ve gotten very aggressive in creating partnerships and pathways for things that we want to be involved in,” Taylor said.