Detroit Schools Get Seven Times More Federal COVID Money Than Other Districts
Flint gets even more: $13,407 per pupil; state average is $1,282
The Detroit school district will get nearly seven times more federal COVID relief money on a per-student basis than the average Michigan school district or charter school.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District is set to receive far more extra federal COVID relief money than the average Michigan school district. Flint will get even more than that.
Altogether, when all the money is disbursed, Detroit district schools will have received $446.8 million in extra federal COVID relief funding since the pandemic began last year.
That comes to $8,933 in increased per-pupil federal funding for the Detroit district. By comparison, the average Michigan school district will receive an extra $1,282 per student in extra federal COVID money.
Statewide, the median increase in federal support to public school districts due to the pandemic was $1,048 per student (half got more and half got less).
On a per-student basis, Flint received an increase in federal funding at $13,407 for each student. That comes to $49.6 million overall for the smaller district.
Congress has authorized two rounds of federal COVID grants for school districts. Most of the money from the first round has already been disbursed. The second round has been approved but has not been distributed to the Michigan Department of Education as of Jan. 29.
The extra federal money comes with a condition that it be spent by September 2023.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.