A new report shows Michigan students over the past decade have fallen far behind their peers in other states when it comes to math and reading.
The "What Our Students Deserve" report by the nonprofit Education Trust-Midwest compares National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores in reading and math for fourth and eighth graders around the country.
According to the report, Michigan now ranks near the bottom in most subjects and grades.
Amber Arellano, executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, says Michigan students have been stuck in the same place for the past decade, while students in other states have been improving.
She says it's like a marathon, where She likens it to a marathon:
"We can see the other runners in this race, they’re all going much faster and much farther than our kids are."
Michigan's African American students ranked last in 4th grade reading among the 45 states reporting in 2011.
But Arellano says it’s not just low-income, urban or minority children who are struggling. White students in Michigan ranked 13th in the country for 4th grade math in 2003. Last year, they were 45th in the country.