Gov. Gretchen Whitmer approved $250,000 for a private school after criticizing privatized education.

"The movement to privatize education in this state has been a catastrophic failure, causing Michigan students to fall behind the rest of the nation," Whitmer stated when vetoing bills in 2021 that would have created scholarship tax incentives.

The 2025 state budget includes $250,000 for the Brookview Montessori School in Benton Harbor. The earmarked funds will upgrade the school structure, according to a press release from Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph.

Private school funding is unpopular with public school advocates who form a substantial part of Whitmer’s political base. The Michigan Department of Education recently rebuked lawmakers for reducing spending on mental health and safety in public schools by $300 million.

“While we are sympathetic with the challenge facing the private school, there are facilities challenges in public schools across the state,” Bob Wheaton, director of the Department of Education’s Office of Public and Governmental Affairs, told Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Public dollars for infrastructure should address the needs of public schools.”

There is also a possibility that the allocation violates the Blaine Amendment approved by Michigan voters in 1970, according to Patrick Wright, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Mackinac Center Legal Foundation.

The amendment to the Michigan Constitution prevents public dollars from being spent on private schools.

“The Blaine Amendment prohibits aid to private schools to limit parents’ choices about the best education for their children,” Wright said in a statement. “But this bad policy has no loophole for aid that is political pork.”

Tuition at Brookview Montessori School is $10,500 per academic year, according to Private School Review. The average cost for private school tuition in Michigan is $6,919 for elementary school and $12,532 for high school, the website says. Brookview educates children from infancy through eighth grade.

The 2025 state budget “invests in hometowns, strengthens our workforce, and addresses housing needs,” Andrews said in his press release, adding that the earmarks provide funding for critical infrastructure projects, workforce development programs, and affordable housing initiatives that will improve residents’ quality of life.

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office declined to comment on the potential violation of the Blaine Amendment.

Michigan taxpayers will fund four gender-specific grants totaling $3 million in the state’s 2025 budget. The money will go to nonprofits ostensibly dedicated to innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Michigan Women Forward, a Detroit-based entrepreneurship organization, is receiving $1.5 million. The organization earned $2.5 million in revenue in 2021 and $4 million in 2023, according to its 990 forms on GuideStar.

The organization’s website says its mission is “to expand economic opportunity for women and entrepreneurs of color, empower the next generation, and celebrate and honor the accomplishments of Michigan women.” Michigan Women Forward offers loans ranging from $2,500 to $50,000 to small businesses.

The organization did not respond to a request for comment.

Women’s Innovative Social Enterprise Partnership in Detroit gets $1.5 million. Its mission is “to build and develop innovative, interactive, sustainable, and environmentally healthy communities throughout Detroit that prioritize Black, Brown, and marginalized residents using the resources and talents provided by purposeful partnerships,” according to its website.

The organization received its tax-exempt status in 2021. There are no 990 forms for the Women’s Innovative Social Enterprise Partnership on ProPublica or GuideStar. A notice on ProPublica states that an organization with less than $50,000 in revenue may file a shorter 990 form.

The group did not respond to a request for comment.

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology received two separate grants for $250,000. It aims to inspire and grow women in technology, according to its website. One of the grants is for the organization’s Reignite program.

The program costs $200 for nonmembers and $100 for members. It “provides a supportive community that helps women build confidence, network, and acquire new skills to help them succeed in the tech industry.” It is unclear why the council received two separate grants.

The organization had $1.46 million in revenue in 2021 and $1.53 million in revenue in 2022.

It did not respond to a request for comment.

Earmarks are quietly added to spending bills late in the budgeting process and are not debated in committee. Total pork spending in the 2025 budget totaled more than $1 billion.