POLL: MICHIGANDERS DEMAND ON-TIME SCHOOL BUDGETS, REJECT DIVERTING EDUCATION DOLLARS TO ROADS
A new poll of Michigan voters conducted by Glengariff Group, Inc. shows a large, bipartisan majority of Michigan voters believe state lawmakers have failed Michigan’s schools by not passing a budget for the upcoming school year on time and an overwhelming majority of voters say school funding should be a higher priority than road funding, including significant opposition to recent efforts to shift additional funding out of the state’s School Aid Fund to pay for a new road funding plan.
“These numbers are clear and concise. Rarely do Michigan voters speak with such unanimity,” said Richard Czuba, Glengariff’s founder. “Michigan voters—across all partisan affiliations—are telling the State Legislature to get a school funding bill passed before schools reopen and prioritize school funding by not diverting education money to roads. Voters are also telling us they support sanctioning legislative pay if the legislature doesn’t pass the school budget and will blame everyone if a budget is not passed on time.”
The poll’s findings showed the following:
Strong Approval for Local Schools: Parents approve of their local public school district by a 3:1 margin, while 62% of Michigan voters say public schools get too little in state funding compared to only 7% of voters say they get too much.
Demand for On-Time Budgets: 83% of Michigan voters support the state law requiring the Legislature to pass a school funding bill by July 1, while 89% say it must be done before the school year starts.
School Funding Heavily Outweighs Roads as a Voter Priority: Voters were asked which was a larger priority for them personally—funding for public schools or funding for roads. By a margin of 74%-13%, voters chose public school funding over road funding as their personal top priority. When asked which should be a higher priority for the legislature, voters again chose schools over roads by an 81%-9% margin.
Hands Off the School Aid Fund: Voters were told that one reason that the school budget has not been passed is because both parties are talking about a deal to fund the roads. Voters were asked if they support or oppose some money from the School Aid Fund being shifted to help pay for road funding. By a margin of 10%-86%, Michigan voters overwhelmingly oppose using any School Aid Fund monies for road funding. Voters were additionally asked about proposals to use the teacher retirement system (MPSERS) as a means to free up funding for roads and, again, overwhelmingly rejected this idea with 89% opposing it and only 8% supporting it.
Deep Distrust of Lawmakers: 67% of Michigan voters distrust the Legislature to allocate school aid dollars appropriately, with 52% strongly distrustful.
Legislator Accountability Needed: 94% say it’s a problem if the school budget isn’t passed before the first day of school, and large majorities support docking legislator pay or voting incumbents out if the delay continues.
Blame for a Government Shutdown will be Bipartisan: Voters are tired of finger-pointing and will blame everyone if/when a shutdown takes place. Nearly 2/3 of voters would blame everyone (House, Senate and Governor) equally should that happen.
“This isn’t about politics, it’s about priorities,” said Al Latosz, superintendent of Algonac Community Schools and President of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan. “Our schools are days away from opening their doors, and district leaders are being forced to make staffing, program and purchasing decisions in the dark. Students, families and communities are paying the price for the Legislature’s failure to act and these poll results make it clear that our communities are as fed up with this as we are.”
Without an approved budget, superintendents and school boards cannot finalize hiring, update instructional programs or commit to building repairs and safety upgrades. For many districts, the uncertainty means delaying or canceling initiatives aimed at student success, creating ripple effects that reach into every classroom.
Recent comments from Lansing lawmakers have pointed to an ongoing desire to tie the School Aid Budget to a new road funding plan as a reason for the ongoing delays, including diverting hundreds of millions of dollars—or more—out of the education budget as a means of paying for it. The poll results show that voters strongly oppose this ongoing delay in funding our schools and even more strongly oppose those efforts to tie school funding to a roads deal. The data makes it clear that education funding is a top voter priority, and any lawmaker seen as holding up the school budget risks losing public trust.
“Our message to lawmakers is simple: Do your job and pass a school budget immediately that puts every single dollar where it belongs—investing in our K-12 classrooms and kids,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan. “This stalemate exists because too many in Lansing still view the School Aid Fund as a piggy bank to raid for other projects. Voters could not disagree more. Public school funding must be treated as the top priority inside the Capitol—just as it clearly is for families across Michigan. Anything less ignores the clear will of Michigan voters.”
Glengariff Group conducted the survey on behalf of The K-12 Alliance of Michigan between August 8–11, 2025, interviewing 600 likely voters, with a partisan breakdown of 36.2% Democrat, 36.7% Republican, and 23.6% Independent. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.0% at the 95% confidence level.
The full survey data is available here: www.k12michigan.org/poll.
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The K-12 Alliance of Michigan is a coalition of education leaders committed to fighting for strong K-12 schools across Michigan. Comprised of Superintendents from every district in Genesee, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties, they are collectively responsible for educating over half of Michigan’s students.