Promoting literacy
Several local districts awarded funding
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LANSING - Students in 537 local and intermediate school districts in Michigan will benefit from $64.4 million to improve student literacy, according to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). A list of awardees can be found on the Michigan Department of Education website.
Awardees of new 2026 grants provided by the state legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will receive funding they can use for whole class or intervention literacy materials, professional learning for teachers, or literacy assessments that have been approved by the MDE Committee for Literacy Achievement. The newly awarded grants build on $87 million awarded for high-quality literacy materials in the 2025-26 school year.
"Literacy is the foundation of student success in school and life," said State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. "With these grants, MDE continues to work with local schools, the State Board of Education, Gov. Whitmer and our partners in the Legislature to improve Michigan's literacy achievement by providing students with classroom materials aligned with the Science of Reading and providing their teachers with evidence-based professional learning."
The grants are provided under Section 35m of the 2026 State School Aid Act. The funding is an important part of supporting districts in implementing Michigan's K-12 Literacy and Dyslexia Law, which is required to be completed by the 2027-28 school year. This law, which was signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October 2024, supports districts in building a comprehensive literacy system based on the Science of Reading. The law includes screening students for characteristics of dyslexia, evidence-based instructional methods for teaching reading and literacy professional learning for educators.
Several Copper Country area schools received grant funding to purchase literacy related curriculum and programming. Three area school districts received considerable grant money to purchase HMH Into Reading, a core K-6 literacy curriculum published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that focuses on text sets, instructional routines, and decodable readers. Local districts receiving funding for this particular curriculum are Public Schools of Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw ($145,336), Adams Township Schools ($66,167) and Baraga Area Schools ($55,378). Other districts receiving funding for literacy related curriculum include, Copper Island Academy ($68,893), Dollar Bay – Tamarack City ($3,229) and Houghton-Portage Township Schools ($16,606).
The Committee for Literacy Achievement has worked closely with the MDE Office of Curriculum and Instruction and includes representatives from institutes of higher education, early childhood education, literacy scholars, practitioners, educators and administrators, as well as staff from MDE and the Michigan Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Technical Assistance Center.
The additional literacy funding this past year has allowed districts to apply for their first Section 35m grant, or for previous recipients to apply again to build toward an evidence-based system that supports strong literacy outcomes for students.