Detroit’s schools are still recovering from the deep wounds of systemic neglect. Redlining, segregation, and a crash in city revenue starved schools of resources. Meanwhile, state funding for Detroit continues to lag behind wealthier districts. 

Over the years, control of Detroit schools has taken many turns that have added to the trauma.

First, it was mayoral control, and later, state‑appointed emergency managers. These interventions were supposed to help, but they often made things worse.

Through it all, poverty has entrenched itself in the households of many Detroit students. Housing instability, unreliable transportation, and inaccessible healthcare have added trauma on top of trauma. And then came the pandemic,  erasing precious early learning time.

But like the city itself, Detroit schools have been slowly, steadily rising. The latest glimmer is the new M‑STEP results, which show Detroit public school students largely making steady incremental improvements in math and English.

A Chalkbeat Detroit analysis of Michigan’s 2024-25 standardized tests puts the results into deeper context, showing Detroit’s third‑graders reading at their best level in over a decade. 

Still, only about 13% of DPSCD third graders reached reading proficiency, that’s compared to nearly 39% statewide.

So what do these modest gains really mean, and how long can they last?

Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, joined Robyn Vincent to answer these questions.

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The new school year is here. Teachers are meeting fresh faces, setting up their classrooms, and laying out lesson plans.

But the reality? Michigan doesn’t have enough teachers. Prep hours are disappearing. Class sizes are growing. Burnout is rising. And more teachers are walking away, some to retire, others to leave the profession altogether.

All of this comes at a tough moment for students. The latest state test scores released this week show that  say kids are still struggling, especially in reading. Only four in ten third-graders hit proficiency on the M-STEP this spring. 

There is some good news, though. Middle schoolers, especially eighth-graders, posted gains in reading. But overall, proficiency in both reading and math is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Teachers in Michigan make less on average than in many other states with an average starting salary of around $38,000.

Still, there are signs of resilience. According to a 2025 report from Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University (EPIC), Michigan’s teaching workforce is slowly climbing back from the losses of the COVID years.

Tara Kilbride is a co-author of that report and the Associate Director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University. She joined the show to help make sense of Michigan’s teacher workforce.

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Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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