FILE - Detroit school

Students enter Cass Technical High School in Detroit. 

(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office divulged details of the governor’s settlement in the Gary B. literacy case.

As part of the settlement, Whitmer will propose legislation that will appropriate $94.4 million for literacy-related programs and initiatives. Michigan will pay $280,000, which will be divided equally between the seven student-plaintiffs, and pay an additional $2.7 million to the Detroit Public School Community District for “various literacy-related supports.”

The Gary B. vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer settlement follows a 2-1 judgment by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 23. In that case, the court determined public school students possessed a federal right to basic minimum education and access to literacy.

Gary B. is one of a group of at-the-time minor Detroit Public School students who initially filed suit in 2016 against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. When Whitmer assumed office on Jan. 1, 2019, she was named defendant.

“Plaintiffs contend that access to literary, as opposed to other educational achievements, is a gateway milestone, one that unlocks the basic exercise of other fundamental rights, including the possibility of political participation,” the court wrote in its decision. "While the [U.S.] Supreme Court has repeatedly discussed this issue, it has never decided it, and the question of whether such a right exists remains open today.”

The governor’s settlement also requires the plaintiffs to drop all claims against other defendants in the case, including the Michigan Department of Education; Superintendent of Public Instruction; the State Board of Education and individual SBE members; and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

In a release detailing terms of the settlement, Whitmer said: ““I have always said that every student, no matter where they come from, has a birthright to a quality public education.”

Whitmer added: “Students in Detroit faced obstacles to their education that inhibited their ability to read – obstacles they never should have faced. In the future, I will remain committed to ensuring paths to literacy for children across Michigan. Today’s settlement is a good start, but there’s more work to do to create paths to opportunity for our children. I look forward to working with the legislature to provide funding for Detroit schools and districts across the state to help ensure educators and students have the resources they need for success.”

In a statement, Great Lakes Education Project Executive Director Beth DeShone stated: “Every student in Michigan deserves a quality education, teachers and programs to help them read, and solutions that help them overcome educational challenges."

DeShone added: "Michigan’s 'Read by Grade 3 Law' was created to require districts provide extra education and supports for struggling readers, and that they ensure students are able to read before moving on to the 3rd grade. Rather than simply spending new money in a single district, this critical reform already ensures state bureaucracies don’t leave struggling readers behind."

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also lauded the settlement.

“The City of Detroit strongly supported this litigation as an amicus because literacy is a right that every child should have the opportunity to attain," Duggan said. "We are very supportive of the Governor's actions today in committing to ensuring that every child in Detroit has a fair opportunity to learn how to read and write.”

Ben DeGrow is the Education Policy Director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland. In comments he made to The Center Square, DeGrow said it would make more sense to closely copy what Florida has done with its Reading Scholarship accounts.

He said he also advocates increasing the amounts from Florida’s levels for Michigan students. He noted federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act could be used for the program.

“It’s extremely important that kids from all communities across Michigan learn to read so they can function as informed citizens and productive workers,” DeGrow said. “But this settlement likely will do very little or nothing to solve the problem for the children of Detroit.

“Rather than set up a political fight over an extra $94 million that can’t be found in the budget now, why not redirect some of the extra federal education funds on their way to Michigan so they provide scholarships to families of struggling readers to choose the services and support they need to succeed?”