This brief provides a portrait of Michigan Migrant Education from the late 1980’s to the mid-1990s. Michigan Migrant Education is a federally funded program begun in 1966 to provide supplemental education to children of migrant agricultural workers. The authors state that migrant agricultural workers play an important role in Michigan agriculture. Using data from the 1989-1995 service cycles, they found that most migrant children are in grade 6 and below. Slightly over half (51.8%) count Michigan as their home state, followed by Texas (29.3%), Florida (12.3%), and Mexico (3.1%). Funding for Michigan Migrant Education has been stable over the past eight years, averaging about $11 million per year. The number of children served by migrant education programs has averaged about 18,500. The majority of Michigan Migrant Education children (72.7%) are Hispanics. Participation in migrant education programs occurs mostly during the summer months of June, July and August, and the rest occurs during the regular school year from September to May. Contrary to common perceptions, intrastate coordination between migrant education programs is more important than interstate coordination.

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