Monique Stanton

At a time when Michigan continues to rank abysmally low in education nationally, the Invest in MI Kids ballot proposal is a symbol of hope and promise for the future of our state’s education system and the young students walking through the doors of our public schools. It proposes a 5% tax surcharge on the wealthiest Michiganders, including joint filers making over $1 million a year and single filers making over $500,000 a year, which will raise more than $1 billion annually for public school funding.

Less than 1% of the top earners in Michigan will see a change in their taxes if the proposal appears on the ballot and is approved by voters this November, and the revenue raised will significantly boost K-12 education in Michigan following decades of state disinvestment. The revenue will be used to support smaller class sizes, better access to career and technical education, and stronger teacher recruitment and retention, all of which is very much needed.

The tax surcharge will also help to narrow a long-standing, unfair gap in the share of income that the wealthiest Michiganders pay in state and local taxes when compared to families making far less. A new analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that the top 1% of earners in Michigan — those making over $670,300 a year — only pay 5.7% of their income to state and local taxes, which is less than any other income bracket in the state. Families that fall into the category of middle income earners are paying the highest share of their income to taxes at an average of 9.7% and the lowest 20% of income earners in Michigan pay an average of 7.1%.

We here at the Michigan League for Public Policy have contended for a long time that Michigan’s tax structure is upside down and the state needs to move toward a graduated income tax so the top earners in the state are paying their fair share for vital public services like education. The Invest in MI Kids ballot proposal would not result in a graduated income tax, but it would to some degree bring Michigan a step closer to that kind of equitable tax structure as the top earners in the state would see their total share of income going toward taxes increase from 5.7% to 7.6%.

It’s also important to reinforce the message that, despite what has been said to the contrary, this proposal is not a small business tax. While a small number of the wealthiest business owners in Michigan will have to pay the surcharge based on their high incomes, the average small business will not. In fact, more than 99% of Michiganders will not see any change to their taxes from this proposal, including many local bookstore owners, restaurant and coffee shop owners, and child care providers.

But beyond the exaggerated claims that have been made about the impact of this proposed tax is something that I think we can all agree is more important: our state’s kids. They are at the heart of this proposal and each and every one of them deserves to receive a quality education that allows them to succeed later in life. That is what this proposal will ultimately accomplish if it makes it across the finish line.

Our latest Kids Count data shows us that only 1 in 4 Michigan students is proficient in reading in fourth grade and in math in eighth grade, and more than 70% of Michigan students in 11th grade are not college-ready. We also looked more locally at college readiness in northeast Michigan and an even starker picture emerged, with 79.5%, 83.9% and 85.2% of 11th-graders shown to be unprepared for higher education in the counties of Alpena, Presque Isle and Alcona. It’s also important to note that students of color and students learning English in many Michigan counties often have worse educational outcomes because of our country’s history of discriminatory practices, like redlining and segregation.

We are proud to have joined partners across the state in gathering signatures over these last two weeks of February to ensure the Invest in MI Kids ballot proposal makes its way in front of voters this November. This is a proposal that we fully endorse and we hope others will support it, as we are confident that it will build a stronger state for all of us by improving outcomes for the next generation of Michiganders. Community members can learn more about the ballot proposal at https://investinmikids.org/.