Michigan kids in need of special education services in public schools are disproportionately affected by exclusion from pre-kindergarten education, dropout rates and a lack of support for their parents, according to a state-level report out this week.
The Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAoM) released its first special education benchmark report on Wednesday, Dec. 3, citing uneven program access and learning outcomes across the state ― particularly, when compared to national averages ― amid a nearly 7% rise in the number of students with disabilities over the last several years.
According to the Michigan Department of Education, the number of students with disabilities who’ve received special ed services has gone from 208,543 in 2018-19 to 223,100 during the 2024-25 school year.
Roughly 27.3% of those students reportedly had a speech and language impairment last year, 25.1% had another specific learning disability, 13.5% had autism, and 7.6% had a cognitive impairment.
Although the Autism Alliance uses state data as of last year, some of the latest student group calculations are from 2022-23 and 2023-24. Among preschool-aged children with disabilities, the alliance reported 21% as of two years ago received at least 10 hours of special education and related services in their regular early childhood program.
That’s compared to the national average of 43%.
The proportion of those who received special ed services at home was 2% across Michigan and the U.S. in 2023-24. Meanwhile, 44% in Michigan received those services in other environments, such as separate schools or residential facilities, compared to 22% nationally.
Other key takeaways from the report include:
- The four-year graduation rate for students with disabilities is roughly 60% in Michigan versus 71% nationally.
- The high school dropout rate for students with disabilities within six years is about 21% versus 11% of non-disabled students.
- Roughly 78% of students with disabilities have been competitively employed or enrolled in higher education and post-secondary education program within a year of leaving high school.
- Over half of Michigan students with disabilities are identified as having either a special learning disability or a speech-language impairment with Michigan serving a higher percentage of students in that group than the national average at 28% and 19%.
- Academic outcomes are low among students in special education despite a strong inclusion rate of 73% for the state — five points higher than the national percentage.
- The gap between participation in general statewide tests among students with disabilities is wider in older grade levels with 98% of fourth-graders, for example, taking the M-STEP and 91% of high-schoolers taking the SAT.
- 16% and 18% of affected fourth-graders scored at proficient or advanced levels on the Math and English-language arts portions of the M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress), while 5% and 23% scored at those levels for each subject on the eighth-grade PSAT and 3% and 13% were proficient and above in math and English-language arts for the high-school SAT.
- About 90% of special education teachers were appropriately certified and placed last year despite a shortage of special ed teachers.
- Written complaints from families of students with disabilities were filed with the state at a rate of 12.5 per 10,000 kids in 2023-24, and 6.6 of them were found to be out of compliance.
The alliance’s report makes a host of recommendations for state policymakers to address disparities among students with disabilities. They include support of existing programs aimed at increasing the teacher workforce and expanding the state’s investment in teacher training, requiring school boards to view annual performance data of students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and benchmarking Michigan’s performance against high-performing states with evidence-based strategies to improve outcomes.
It also recommends implementing the Michigan Special Education Finance Reform Blueprint, a tiered funding system introduced by advocates in October that proposes a $1.5 billion funding increase to special education services in the state over several years.
Much of the advocacy comes from a lag in federal investment over several decades. Federal IDEA funding covers under one-sixth of those costs nationally, and combined state and federal contributions make up only 44% of total costs under Michigan’s existing special ed system.
Michigan spends roughly $2.8 billion on special ed a year.
The Autism Alliance’s 2024 Special Education Experience Survey, including close to 900 responses, reported:
- 51% of parents felt their student’s disability should have been identified sooner
- 51% disagreed that the school has the proper resources to support the needs of their child with 21% who strongly disagreed
- 41% wanted to be more involved in the development of their child’s individualized education program (IEP)
- 28% said their child does not spend enough time with non-disabled peers
- 15% believe their child spends no time with non-disabled peers
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