DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The Detroit Public Schools Community District spent about $34.48 million of the $94 million it received in its literacy lawsuit windfall.

In 2024, the state Legislature approved a $94 million settlement of a lawsuit involving former students from Detroit’s public school district. The students sued the state saying it had deprived them of a fundamental right to education.

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The district released a report this year that documented the first year spending of the money. The district spent almost $30 million hiring teacher aides and more teachers to lower classroom sizes. In addition, the district spent $1.1 million expanding its “newcomer” program which is set up to deal with immigrants.

The district reported some improvement in reading. Over the last two years, the percentage of K-12 students that could read at grade level increased from 23.2% to 31.3%.