How will Gov. Whitmer’s education budget affect your school district in Michigan?

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, calling Michigan a “state at a crossroads,” is calling for a substantial education funding hike.

If adopted by the legislature, it would rank among the largest increases in school funding in years. The most unusual thing about it, though, is the way the money is distributed.

Whitmer wants to spend more money on at-risk students — students from low-income families, who have special needs, or  who speak English as second language.

That’s in keeping with the consensus among education researchers that it costs more to provide an adequate education to such students. And it comes after a two-decade stretch during which funding for at-risk students dropped 60 percent, adjusted for inflation, according to a study from the Michigan State University College of Education.

In practice, this means that districts in areas with lots of poverty — places like Detroit, Pontiac, and many parts of rural Michigan —  would get a bigger financial boost next year than wealthier districts.

Whitmer’s office published a map on Tuesday morning showing how each district will stack up.

To see how your school will be affected, check out the map below. Districts in darker green would receive more money under Whitmer’s proposal.

To view an interactive map — including district-by-district details — click here. A file produced by Whitmer’s staff will begin downloading. Click on that folder, then click on the file titled “Exec Rec Total Funding Increase 4.” An interactive map will appear in your web browser. This probably won’t work on your smartphone, unfortunately. (We are working on a more accessible map.)

Click the link above to access an interactive version of this map.