(Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a quote from the Michigan licensing agency.)

The state of Michigan has sanctioned a speech-language pathologist for not completing implicit bias training, as required by a 2020 directive from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Michiganders licensed by the state across 26 occupations must complete implicit bias training to renew a professional license.

New applicants must complete two hours of implicit bias training within the previous five years. Renewing licensees or registrants must complete one hour of implicit bias training for each year of their license cycle.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs fined a speech-language pathologist $1,500 for not completing the continuing education requirement or the implicit bias training, according to an internal document Do No Harm, an organization that opposes diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, sent CapCon. Do No Harm obtained the Oct. 19, 2023, affidavit of a state compliance officer, as well as other documents, through a Freedom of Information Act request. The therapist was placed on probation on the condition of completing the required number of hours as well as implicit bias training. Failure to pay the fine and comply with the training requirement will result in the state terminating the person’s professional license.

The order was issued by the Disciplinary Subcommittee of the Michigan Board of Speech-Language Pathology. It said the person failed to submit proof of completing the bias requirement and was deficient by 20 credit hours of continuing education, including one hour of pain and pain symptom management training.

“Respondent is deficient 20 hours of continuous professional development, including 1 hour in pain and symptom management. Additionally, Respondent must complete training in implicit bias,” a disciplinary order says.

Do No Harm requested the licensing agency’s emails about implicit bias training, said Laura Morgan, its senior director of programs. The organization, according to its website, represents “physicians, nurses, medical students, patients, and policymakers focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice.”

“We have universally heard from physicians, nurses, and other practitioners that being subjected to this requirement as a condition of licensure is ‘insulting,’ and has even caused some of them to forego renewing their licenses altogether,” Morgan said in a statement. In a time when the entire healthcare industry continues to struggle with provider shortages in all disciplines, Michigan's insistence on pushing an ideologically driven concept with the weak evidence that implicit bias has simply doesn't align with patient care-related needs and best practices.”

Richardson said the FOIA response shows that some departmental employees have not completed the implicit bias training.

One staff member replied to a reminder to complete the training by saying it “has nothing to do with the performance of my duties and I am fully capable of treating and do treat everyone with respect and cordiality that is due to all living beings.”

The staffer said he tried to complete the training but encountered an error in the online system and did not have the time to finish it.

Applicants and licensees who don’t complete implicit bias training might face penalties, Abby Rubley, the licensing agency’s director of communications, told CapCon.

“Applicants and licensees are required at initial licensure/renewal to attest that they have completed Implicit Bias Training, as well as other continuing education requirements for the specific profession as required,” Rubley wrote in an email. “In the event an individual is audited and found to not have taken the Implicit Bias Training, they may face penalties handed down by the respective profession’s licensing board.”

The documents the state provided to Do No Harm include a notice that reads:

“The State of Michigan is committed to an equitable and inclusive workplace through mitigating implicit bias. In 2019, the governor issued Executive Directive 2020-9 mandating state employees receive biennial implicit bias training.”

The agency also invited state employees to take a pronoun training class and to attend the “MI Family Pride” event in Lansing on Thursday, June 22.

Wayne-Westland Community Schools is facing a projected deficit of about $30 million because of a budget error and increased spending.

A clerical error caused about $16 million of that deficit, and the district increased spending by $15 million in 2022-23.

The district adopted a budget with a nearly $9 million deficit as of June 30, 2025, and voted to seek up to $30 million from taxpayers.

A mistake in the 2022-2023 budget approved by the district board noted a one-time payment from the state of Michigan to the Office of Retirement Services as a revenue increase of $8.3 million instead of a net gain of zero.

The district accounted for the revenue but not the expenditure, falsely showing a positive balance of $8.3 million. The mistake was repeated in the 2023-24 fiscal year, compounding to a deficit of $16.7 million.

In other words, the district serving nearly 10,000 students had already spent the money but believed it hadn’t.

“The district is implementing measures to prevent such errors in the future,” it said in a statement.

The district says it will cut spending to reduce the deficit.

“Importantly, the board has publicly pledged to take decisive actions in the coming weeks and possibly months to reduce or eliminate this projected deficit, demonstrating our commitment to financial responsibility,” the statement read.

In 2022-23, the district’s increased spending totaled $15 million across increases, steps, and bonuses across every employee group.

“The district, in recognition of their hard work, provided employees with well-deserved steps, increases, and bonuses, effectively utilizing the surplus fund balance,” the district said.

Board member Mark Neil voted against the budget.

“But again, first of all, the adoption of a deficit budget is a mistake without a plan to immediately eliminate all these problems,” Neil said in the meeting.

The Wayne-Westland Schools district received roughly $49 million in COVID cash to recover from learning loss, move to online learning, and hire extra teachers to follow six-foot separation guidelines. The district has been reimbursed $34 million and has about $14 million remaining, according to the state dashboard.

“The millions of dollars Wayne-Westland Community Schools received in various forms of COVID relief funds helped to camouflage the seriousness of these two factors,” the district said. “With the end of those COVID funds, the district is left with a projection to possibly end the fiscal year 2024-2025 with a deficit of $8,927,613.”

Wayne-Westland isn't alone. A Citizen’s Research Council of Michigan report found many of Michigan’s 800 school districts will have to reduce their staff.

Michigan public schools added almost 5,000 employees in the 2022-23 school year and over 5,800 employees in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, student enrollment has fallen since 2014.

The research council included this graph in its report, showing Michigan school staffing increasing while the student population has dropped.

Courtesy of Michigan Citizen's Research Council of Michigan