Governor Whitmer signs $23.4 billion education budget, including free community college and preschool

FLINT, MI – Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed the $23.4 billion education spending plan for 2025, which includes free preschool for many families as well as free community college tuition.

“This balanced education budget – my sixth – includes record-breaking investments to support our students, invest in our schools and empower our educators,” Whitmer said.

“With access to free preschool for all, record funding for students, free school meals, on-campus mental health resources, and tuition-free community college for every high school graduate, this budget will improve outcomes, reduce costs, and strengthen our education system.”

Whitmer signed the budget on Tuesday, July 23, at Educare Flint, a free early education center for children birth to age five. She was joined by education leaders and politicians.

The budget, which takes effect Oct. 1, also continues free breakfasts and lunches for all students at a cost of $200 million. Free meals for students were already included in the current budget, and Whitmer wanted to make it permanent.

Related: Free community college and preschool included in Michigan’s $23.4 billion education budget

Republican lawmakers and state schools Superintendent Michael Rice again expressed concern Tuesday about significant cuts to school safety and mental health grants, which were reduced from $328 million to $26.5 million in the current budget.

“This cut will slow Michigan’s recent efforts to address student mental health issues,” Rice said. “A $300 million cut in funding for children’s mental health services and school safety does not address the physical and mental health needs of our students.”

While Rice said he understood that federal pandemic relief funds, which had helped fund mental health and school safety grants in the past two budgets, had been eliminated, he called the deep cuts in this budget disappointing.

Under the new budget, families earning 400 percent or less of the federal poverty level will receive free preschool for four-year-olds. This collective income limit is $81,760 for a family of two, $103,280 for a family of three and $124,800 for a family of four, according to the federal poverty guidelines for 2024.

According to state officials, the $54 million investment will provide free preschool education to about 5,300 additional children in the state.

The budget also includes a $30 million investment to expand the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, for which state officials say most students qualify.

Democratic lawmakers say the investment would allow any Michigan high school graduate to earn an associate degree or professional certificate at a community college tuition-free.

By expanding scholarships, students at private and public universities would also receive more money.

“This budget guarantees every child in Michigan a free, high-quality education from kindergarten through community college — that’s a big deal,” said Jen Flood, the state’s budget director. “We’re laser-focused on providing our children with a world-class education while saving families money: from ensuring free breakfast and lunch at school to reducing the cost of a four-year college by more than $25,000.”

For the first time in a decade, the budget will not include a direct increase in per-pupil funding, which would remain at $9,608 per student under the proposed budget.

However, Democratic lawmakers say diverting about $589 million to cover pension costs would save school districts about $400 per student, effectively representing an increase of 4.2 percent per student.

The budget will also abolish the requirement for next year that three percent of teachers’ salaries must go towards pensioners’ health insurance.

Lawmakers’ vote on the education budget last month was along party lines, with Republicans accusing Democrats of “looting” the teachers’ pension fund by diverting $670 million that should have been used to cover liabilities in the teachers’ pension system.

Related: Michigan lawmakers pass $82.5 billion budget largely along party lines

Republicans also criticized the lack of an increase in per-pupil salaries and accused Democrats of inflating the state budget with election gifts. Whitmer has not yet signed the $59 billion 2025 budget for state agencies and departments.

“This budget fails Michigan’s students and teachers by blocking an increase in per-pupil funding for the first time in over a decade,” Republican Rep. Mike Harris of Waterford said Tuesday.

“It puts teachers’ pensions at risk by raiding the pension fund. And it cuts funding for school safety and mental health. I voted against the budget because I care about helping children learn, supporting good teachers, and keeping students and staff safe.”

Democratic Party leaders have said the budget will pay off certain liabilities in the teachers’ pension system and protect teachers’ pension and retirement benefits, while freeing up $670 million for investments in classrooms.

Whitmer had already touted this move in her budget proposal earlier this year, comparing it to paying off a mortgage early, which would free up funds.