Michigan doesn’t have enough teachers. Prep hours are disappearing. Class sizes are growing. Burnout is rising. And more teachers are walking away, some to retire, others to leave the profession altogether.

Teachers in Michigan make less on average than in many other states with an average starting salary of around $38,000.

Still, there are signs of resilience. According to a 2025 report from Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University (EPIC), Michigan’s teaching workforce is slowly climbing back from the losses of the COVID years.

Tara Kilbride is a co-author of that report and joined the show to help make sense of Michigan's teacher workforce.

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