Michigan settles suit after landmark right to read ruling

LANSING » Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will ask the Michigan Legislature to provide at least $94.4 million to Detroit’s public schools to settle a lawsuit that describes the city’s schools as “slum-like” and basically incapable of delivering access to literacy.

The settlement agreement was signed Thursday and comes weeks after a federal appeals court issued a groundbreaking decision recognizing a constitutional right to education and literacy.

Under the settlement, Whitmer must propose legislation to fund literacy-related programs and other initiatives for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The state must also provide $280,000 to be shared by seven students named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, to be used for a high-quality literacy program or other ways to further their education.

Whitmer will ask the Michigan Department of Education to advise school districts statewide on their strategies, initiatives and programs to improve literacy. Special attention must be paid to reducing class, racial, and ethnic disparities.

“Students in Detroit faced obstacles to their education that inhibited their ability to read — obstacles they never should have faced,” Whitmer said in a statement. “In the future, I will remain committed to ensuring paths to literacy for children across Michigan.”

“Today’s settlement is a good start, but there’s more work to do to create paths to opportunity for our children,” she added.

The lawsuit was filed in 2016.