Education: teachers and administrators; completion of certain training for K-5 teachers; require, the official text

Act No. 26

Public Acts of 2026

Approved by the Governor

July 21, 2026

Filed with the Secretary of State

July 21, 2026

EFFECTIVE
DATE: July 21, 2026

state of michigan

103rd Legislature

Regular session of 2026

Introduced by Reps. DeBoer, Rigas, Thompson, Frisbie,
Meerman, Martin, Kuhn, Borton, Linting, Pavlov, Kelly, Beson, BeGole, Fox,
Wilson, Jenkins-Arno, Kunse, Paquette, Koleszar, Neeley, Conlin, Pohutsky,
Tate, Young, Bruck, Cavitt, Dievendorf, B. Carter, Liberati, Woolford,
VanderWall, Andrews, Arbit and Farhat

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5697

AN ACT to amend 1976 PA 451,
entitled “An act to provide a system of public instruction and elementary and
secondary schools; to revise, consolidate, and clarify the laws relating to
elementary and secondary education; to provide for the organization,
regulation, and maintenance of schools, school districts, public school
academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school entities; to
prescribe rights, powers, duties, and privileges of schools, school districts,
public school academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school
entities; to provide for the regulation of school teachers and certain other
school employees; to provide for school elections and to prescribe powers and
duties with respect thereto; to provide for the levy and collection of taxes;
to provide for the borrowing of money and issuance of bonds and other evidences
of indebtedness; to establish a fund and provide for expenditures from that
fund; to make appropriations for certain purposes; to provide for and prescribe
the powers and duties of certain state departments, the state board of
education, and certain other boards and officials; to provide for licensure of
boarding schools; to prescribe penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,”
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1531k.

The People of the State of
Michigan enact:

Sec.
1531k. (1) Beginning with the 2031-2032 school year, the board of a school
district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public
school academy shall ensure that the following individuals have successfully
completed, as determined by the department, the professional learning described
in subsection (2):

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
certificated individuals who provide, support, or oversee instruction in grades
K to 5 that involves reading instruction or language arts, including classroom
teachers and teachers with any special education endorsements. This section
does not apply to a certificated individual who solely teaches subjects outside
of reading instruction or language arts, including, but not limited to,
physical education, music, and art.

(b) All personnel responsible for the delivery, support, or direct
supervision of literacy instruction in grades K to 5, as determined by the
department.

(2) By not later than 90 days after the effective date of the
amendatory act that added this section, the department shall annually approve
at least 2 providers to offer the professional learning required under
subsection (1). The professional learning described in this subsection must
meet at least all of the following requirements:

(a) Be offered through a system of training that provides
educators with the knowledge base to effectively implement any class-wide,
supplemental, or intervention reading approach and to determine why some
students struggle with reading, writing, spelling, and language.

(b) Provide training activities that direct educators to
implement effective reading and spelling instruction supported by
scientifically based research and foster a direct explicit instructional
sequence that uses techniques to support teachers’ independence in using their
newly learned skills with students in the classroom.

(c) Include integrated components for educators and
administrators in grades K to 5 with embedded evaluation or assessment of
knowledge. Evaluation or assessment of knowledge under this subdivision must
incorporate evaluations of learning throughout each unit and include a
summative assessment that must be completed to demonstrate successful course
completion.

(d) Build teacher content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge
of the critical components of literacy, including how the brain learns to read,
phonological and phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, phonics, advanced
phonics, vocabulary and oral language, fluency, comprehension, spelling and
writing, and the organization of language.

(e) Support educators in understanding how to effectively use
screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment data to improve
literacy outcomes through prevention and intervention for reading difficulties
in a multi-tiered system of supports. The multi-tiered system of supports must
include at least all of the following essential components:

(i) Team-based leadership.

(ii) A tiered delivery system.

(iii) Selection and implementation of instruction, interventions,
and supports.

(iv) A comprehensive screening and assessment system.

(v) Continuous data-based decision making.

(f)
Provide that all training, record-keeping
systems, and flexible scheduling options are administered by the professional
development provider.

(g)
Include “train the trainer” facilitator professional learning, to be
implemented at the discretion of the department. Participants enrolled in
facilitator professional learning must have demonstrated successful completion
of the required professional learning under subdivisions (a) to (e).

(h)
Maintain capacity to provide all required training, distribute materials,
provide reports to the department, and actively support all participants to
mastery completion of coursework.

(3) Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, each school
district, intermediate school district, or public school academy shall annually
report to the department, in a form and manner prescribed by the department,
the number and percentage of individuals described in subsection (1) who have
completed the required professional learning under this section, any costs
associated with providing the professional learning, and the funding sources
used. The department shall compile and publish an annual report summarizing
district-level implementation, identifying areas of progress and need, and
recommending policy or funding adjustments as necessary to support full
compliance by the 2031-2032 school year. The department shall submit this
report to the governor, state board of education, the house and senate
appropriations subcommittees on school aid, and the house and senate education
committees, and shall make the report publicly available on the department’s
website.

(4) Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, the professional learning
providers identified in subsection (2) shall annually report all of the
following information to the department, in a form and manner prescribed by the
department:

(a) The total number of individuals described in subsection
(1) who have completed the required professional learning, organized by role
group.

(b) The total number of individuals described in subsection
(1) who are enrolled in the required professional development training,
organized by role group.

(c) The total number of individuals described in subsection
(1) who enrolled but withdrew from the required professional development prior
to completion, organized by role group.

(d) The cost per individual described in subsection (1) to
enroll in the required professional learning.

(e) The total grant funds expended for all individuals who
completed or enrolled in the professional learning during the fiscal year.

(f) Total unused grant funds for the fiscal year.

(5) The department shall begin a phased implementation of the
professional learning required under this section beginning in the 2026-2027
school year, and, subject to subsection (6), shall ensure full compliance with
this section by not later than the start of the 2031-2032 school year. By not later than 90 days after the effective date of the
amendatory act that added this section, the department shall create a statewide
implementation plan for the professional learning required under this section
in collaboration with statewide associations, literacy experts, and other key
partners. The department may issue a good cause
extension for compliance with this section to an individual. A good cause
extension issued under this subsection must include a deadline, mutually agreed
to between the department and the individual, for when the individual must
successfully complete the professional learning required under this section.

(6) The department may consult with providers approved under
subsection (2) and make extensions to the implementation schedule under
subsection (5) as the department determines necessary. Extensions made under
this subsection may include, but are not limited to, a 1-year extension for
full compliance with this section.

(7) The requirements of this section are subject to the
appropriation of an amount sufficient to comply with this section.

(8) The board of a school district or intermediate school
district or board of directors of a public school academy shall ensure that an
individual hired during or after the 2031-2032 school year into a role
described in subsection (1) receives the professional learning required
under this section not later than 3 years following the start of the
individual’s employment.

(9) If an individual transfers or is moved into a role
described in subsection (1), that individual must complete the professional
learning required under this section by not later than 3 years following the
start of the individual’s employment in that role.

(10) Before implementation of the professional learning
required under this section, and subject to subsection (11), a school
district, intermediate school district, or public school academy shall create
and post on its website a plan that outlines the timeline and manner in which
the required professional learning will be completed, including, but not
limited to, time expectations beyond contractual work time and how time will be
compensated.

(11) A school district, intermediate school district, or
public school academy shall consult and collaborate with the individuals
described in subsection (1) regarding the plan described in subsection (10).

(12) The provisions of this section are subject to 1947 PA
336, MCL 423.201 to 423.217.

(13) This section does not apply to an individual with only
an interim teaching certificate under section 1531i.

(14) The professional learning required under this section
may be provided as part of the professional development provided under section
1527.

(15) As used in this section, “multi-tiered system of supports”
means a comprehensive framework that includes 3 distinct tiers of instructional
support and is composed of a collection of evidence-based strategies designed
to meet the individual needs and assets of a whole pupil at all achievement
levels.

This act is ordered to take
immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of
Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved___________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Governor