Mike Flanagan is the Executive Director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA). MASA serves approximately 1,200 Michigan public school superintendents, first-line assistants, and associate members.

The purpose of MASA is to promote continuous improvement of public education; research on public school and professional problems; protection and advancement of the professional interests of administrators of public education, and professional spirit and growth of its members.

Mike is also the Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA), which serves the 57 intermediate school districts in the state.

Prior to his MASA/MAISA position, Mike was employed by Wayne RESA, the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency, as its Superintendent for seven years. RESA serves nearly 500,000 children in the more than three dozen diverse communities of Wayne County, ranging from the large, urban center of Detroit to suburban communities such as Plymouth and Grosse Pointe and rural communities such as Belleville and Gibraltar. Nearly 180,000 of the county’s children live in poverty, which poses a great challenge to the education system. Mike pushed RESA to address this challenge, as demonstrated by the Agency’s mission of “Leading...Learning for All,” with primary focus on the word “all.” In 1997, Mike founded the Jefferson Center at RESA. As an educational think tank, its mission is “to stimulate thought-provoking discussion and research reflecting diverse views on the education of the public and its role in preserving our democracy.”

Prior to RESA, Mike was Superintendent of the Farmington/Farmington Hills School District for 5 years.

Although he believes most children are best served in their local public schools, Mike was one of the first public educators in Michigan to embrace the concept of public school academies, commonly called charter schools. He sees them as an opportunity to create unique programs that can meet the needs of those students who are not being served through the traditional system. In this spirit, RESA authorized eight PSAs under his leadership, ranging from the Henry Ford Academy to the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Academy. Mike has also been one of the strongest proponents of careful public oversight of PSAs to ensure that the schools do not hand-pick their students and that they are offering a quality program.

Mike is past president of the national county superintendents association, past chair of the Michigan Liquid Asset Fund, past president of Michigan School Business Officials, member of the Ready to Learn Summit and the Michigan Commission on Asia in the Schools. Mike is on the board of the Michigan Society of Association Executives, North Central Association State Committee, Cyber State, Michigan Science and Mathematics Alliance, Michigan Non-Profit Assocation and SET-SEG. Mike is also vice-chair of the National Superintendency Institute, and vice-president and member of the Michigan Institute for Education Management. He is past chair of LEARN, the Local Education and Recreation Network, and was on the board of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Business and Education Training Alliance, the Michigan Leadership Institute, Botsford Hospital Board, and Plymouth-Canton’s Partnership for the Arts. In addition, Mike has served as an educational representative on one of President Clinton’s children’s advisory task forces, was on Governor Engler’s Reading Plan for Michigan Advisory Council and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer named him Education Commissioner on the Detroit 300 Commission. He has received numerous awards including the 1999 Educator of the Year award from the Michigan Association of State and Federal Program Specialists, the PTA-PTO Lifetime Achievement Award, the Crystal Apple Award from Michigan State University, the Notre Dame Scholar Award, the Michigan Association for Bilingual Education Award, and the Michigan Special Olympics Outstanding School District Award.