Despite Michigan's rich history of entrepreneurship and innovation, the state now trails most others both economically and educationally. This report documents the shockingly low performance of schools statewide. Although Detroit has the weakest scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) among the country's big cities, other Michigan districts rank even lower on the state-based Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP)--especially when it comes to serving African-American and Latino students. The report urges six critical steps to improve the state's education system. (Contains 11 figures and 17 notes.)