October 29, 2024
For Release on:
October 18, 2016
October 18, 2016
Contact: Craig Thiel
517.485.9444
517.485.9444
State Support of Nonpublic School Students Nears $100 Million
Michigan will spend nearly $100 million this year to support the education of nonpublic school students, up from $57 million just four years ago. A new report from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan documents the increase participation in “shared time” arrangements across the state – a program that allows public schools to enroll private school students in non-core classes and claim state funding.
The Research Council is releasing an update to its 2014 report, State Support of Nonpublic School Students, a comprehensive analysis of the history and a legal examination of the “shared time” program. This update is timely in light of a new $2.5 million appropriation contained in the 2016-17 School Aid budget to reimburse private schools for the cost of compliance with state health and safety mandates.
“Since our last reporting on the issue, ‘shared time’ instruction has seen prodigious growth, at the same time that statewide public school enrollment has been trending down. This continues to be a trend worth of notice.” said Craig Thiel, Senior Research Associate.
The financing of “shared time” enrollment is borne by the School Aid Fund. For the most recent year this amounts to about $60 per public school student statewide.
The full report is available at no cost on the Citizens Research Council’s website, www.crcmich.org.
