LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The state of Michigan is struggling when it comes to educating its 1.42 million K-12 students.

Recent evidence of that is the nonprofit philanthropy Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Michigan 44th in the country in education in 2025. It cited data such as fourth grade reading and eight grade reading proficiency scores. The foundation reported that 75% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading and 76% of eighth graders were not proficient in math in 2024.

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But the top administrators in the state’s K-12 schools aren’t responsible for the lagging results, at least according to the most recent evaluations released.

Of the state’s 9,204 K-12 public school administrators, 98% were given the highest evaluation rating of “effective” in 2024-25. Just 2% were given the second-highest evaluation of “developing.” Just 20 administrators were rated as “needing support,” which translated to 0%.

The “administrators” title includes positions such as superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals and assistant principals. This was the first year that evaluation categories were reduced from four ratings to three.