As students and teachers across Michigan head into another week of school without a state budget, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon made a stop in Metro Detroit to see the system up close as part of a 50-state tour.

Through her Returning Education to the States tour, McMahon toured Pembroke Academy in Detroit and sat down for a roundtable discussion surrounding school choice, meeting with school leaders and lawmakers to hear how Michigan is excelling and where it can improve.

"I'm looking at best practices throughout all states. We want to develop a toolkit for states to say, 'This is how it's being done in some states that are having great success,'" said McMahon. "We don't set curriculum, we don't hire teachers, we don't buy books, we don't do any of that. We're primarily a pass-through."

With charter schools focusing on individualized teaching, the education secretary calls the approach an innovative way of reaching the next generation and hopes other states follow suit.

"This is certainly something that you can look at and utilize, take bits and pieces of and build your own system. But, that's the goal of turning it back over to the states," said McMahon.

Pembroke Academy principal Salwa Kinsey shared how their tailored curriculum allows students to thrive and gives parents the ability to be an active participant in their child's education.

"Her visit here today just affirms that our staff and our students and our families are doing the right thing in positive partnership for the success of our scholars," said Kinsey.

McMahon's visit comes as Michigan leaders are working to finalize a budget. The Michigan House passed a $78.5 billion budget on Aug. 26, more than a month after lawmakers missed their July 1 deadline. But the bill will need to go to the Senate to avoid a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Kinsey says her team is doing all they can to ensure students don't feel the impacts of the budget battle.

"What we do is we just go back to the drawing board and make sure that we have all of our plans in place, even if we don't have as much staff as we previously had," she said.

With funding that directly impacts state schools still up in the air ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline, legislators say the education secretary's visit fuels them to find a solution.

"We're working very hard to empower our local districts and giving them the flexibility they need," said Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall.