A recent report from Michigan's Mackinac Center asserts that there is little or no relationship between student achievement and marginal increases to what the report characterizes as the already "high" levels of spending in that state. Yet the report never substantiates its assertion that present spending levels are high, on average, or…

While Michigan students learn a variety of skills in their time at school, perhaps the most important charge of public schools, beyond providing a safe and healthy environment, is to ensure that students are learning their three fundamental skills: reading, writing and arithmetic. Unfortunately, the achievement levels of Michigan public school…

This paper analyzes prevalent methods of comparing schools' performance and recommends alternative measures more helpful toward understanding how schools might be improved. The influence of two factors--resource availability and financial need--on the level of school programming is explained in light of Michigan's system of educational finance.…