The Michigan House of Representatives passed landmark school funding reform legislation Wednesday evening on a party-line vote of 58-52, overhauling the state’s 30-year-old per-pupil funding formula to direct significantly more resources toward students with learning disabilities, English language learners, low-income children, and those in foster care — groups that research consistently shows require higher investment to reach the same educational outcomes as their peers.

House Bill 5378, known as the Michigan Student Opportunity Act, would increase the weighted per-pupil funding multiplier for students with special needs from 1.3 to 1.75 times the base foundation allowance, a change that would direct approximately $1.4 billion annually in additional resources toward Michigan’s 245,000 special education students when fully phased in over four years.

The legislation also creates a new at-risk student funding stream that provides $2,500 above the base foundation allowance for each student qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch — currently about 48 percent of Michigan’s student population — and a new $1,800 per-student allocation for English language learners, more than doubling the current ELL supplement.

“This is about making Michigan’s constitutional promise of a quality public education actually mean something for kids who have historically received the least,” said Rep. Ranjeev Patel, D-Canton Township, the bill’s primary sponsor. “Every child deserves resources that match their needs, not just their zip code.”

House Republicans who voted against the measure largely argued that the bill’s cost — estimated at $2.2 billion annually when fully implemented — was not sustainably funded, relying on one-time federal pandemic relief dollars that will not recur. They also raised concerns about accountability provisions, arguing the bill did not do enough to ensure the additional funds translated into improved student outcomes.

The legislation now moves to the Michigan Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority and leadership indicated they intended to take up the bill in January with some amendments. Gov. Whitmer expressed strong support for the bill’s core framework, and her office said she would sign it if it reached her desk in a form substantially similar to the House version.

Education advocates celebrated the vote as the most significant reform of Michigan’s school funding model since Proposal A in 1994. Critics from wealthier suburban districts warned that the shift toward at-risk weighting could reduce resources for high-achieving districts even as they face their own cost pressures.