Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan has signed a new education budget that maintains the goal of basic state aid to schools at a minimum of $6,700 per pupil for the third consecutive year.
The spending plan for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 actually provides a slight increase in state aid over last year, when lawmakers cut $74 in midyear from the minimum per-pupil allotment because of declining revenues.
The $12.5 billion budget signed by the Democratic governor gives the 22 high-spending districts that receive more state aid than the rest the same $74 increase as the others. Gov. Granholm had proposed that those districts remain at last year’s amount, but a protest by the districts and local leaders resulted in a new deal. (“Mich. Lawmakers Reach Deal on K-12 School Budget,” Sept. 15, 2004.
