Education Funding

Mich. Lawmakers Reach Deal on K-12 School Budget

By Joetta L. Sack — October 01, 2004 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A last-minute deal has assured Michigan school districts that they will receive a slight increase in funding in the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, despite the state’s $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

While most Michigan districts were slated to receive a nominal increase in their per-pupil allotment in fiscal 2005, some of the state’s higher-spending districts were bracing for another year of flat funding as part of a balanced- budget plan.

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat, had proposed no increase to the basic state grants for the 22 districts that receive the highest per- pupil allotments from the state. Some Republicans reluctantly supported the plan.

Then, early last week, after a highly visible protest by those districts and other educators, a new deal was struck that would let the state use proceeds from pending sales of surplus state land to pay the $6.6 million tab—$74 per student—for giving the higher-spending districts the same raise that the rest of the districts would receive.

Late last week, the House and the Senate passed the $37 billion compromise budget plan that would put about $12.5 billion into the K-12 education budget. Gov. Granholm was expected to sign it as soon as her legislative staff reviewed it.

“It’s a one-time fix, and so much of the budget is one-time fixes,” said Sen. Ron Jelineck, the Republican who heads the Senate committee that oversees education appropriations. “However, it helps fulfill the intention of what we said we would do for education.”

“I think our final compromise shows that we’re very excited that every school district in the state will see an increase,” said Greg Bird, a spokesman for the state’s management and budget agency. “Our main concern before was that those other school districts not be harmed, and we were able to find money through compromise.”

Actually a Cut?

But education groups were not impressed.

The Michigan Association of School Boards warned that the plan, which Gov. Granholm and legislators were advertising as providing slight per-pupil increases, really amounted to a cut, when factoring in inflation and midyear cuts from the previous two years.

“Ultimately, both [Democrats and Republicans] were willing to do the cuts. Now in the end, both are saying that they’ve found the solution,” said Don Wotruba, the legislative analyst for the boards’ group. “Ultimately, we still have a revenue problem in Michigan.”

Legislators countered that the state was not recovering well enough from its economic downturn, and that they were trying to spare education from as many cuts as possible.

“We want to do as much as we can for education,” said Keith Ledbetter, the press secretary for Speaker of the House Rick Johnson, a Republican. “It’s the only area of state government that hasn’t received a cut, and they’ve done pretty well considering how other entities have had to fare.”

Fighting Back

The current dispute is part of long-running debate over a state law that was designed to ease inequities in spending between Michigan school districts.

Proposal A, the state’s 1993 ballot measure that stringently capped property taxes and turned over the responsibility for most education funding to the state, was designed to ease the funding gaps between districts and increase the amount spent by the lowest-income districts.

But it also contained a hold-harmless provision that allows wealthier districts to continue spending considerably more on their students than their low-income counterparts do.

In the past 11 years, however, the plan has boosted the minimum funding at a higher rate for the lowest-spending districts than it has for the districts that were at higher levels.

Under the budget plan, this year’s minimum per-pupil grant is to be $6,700. Twenty-two districts, known as “20-J” districts, were slated to receive at least $9,000 per student.

Six of the 20-J districts were in Oakland County, the state’s wealthiest area, which lies north of Detroit near Flint.

County Executive L. Brooks Patterson launched a campaign to restore the minimum increases in per-pupil spending for those districts—calling together all the superintendents in Oakland County, plus some from other districts, for a press conference and lobbying campaign to raise the pressure on state lawmakers.

His strategy worked.

Mr. Patterson said in an interview last week that the 20-J districts had already approved school budgets and started their school years counting on a minimal increase from the state. It would be difficult, he added, to make cuts at this point.

Further, he said, the 20-J districts are constantly being targeted for cuts even though they also need the money.

“Oftentimes, when there is a budget shortfall, they look to us, and say we can afford to give a little,” Mr. Patterson said. “Maybe the first time, maybe the second time, but along about the 20th time you begin to see a pattern.”

“We have to fight back; we cannot be the bank for the state,” he added.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 15, 2004 edition of Education Week as Mich. Lawmakers Reach Deal On K-12 School Budget

Events

Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management
Moving the Needle on Attendance: What’s Working NOW
See how family engagement is improving attendance, and how to put it to work in schools.
Content provided by TalkingPoints

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Trump's Cancellation of States' COVID-Relief Funding Is on Hold Again
Pandemic-relief funds in 16 states have been temporarily restored—again—just days before they were set to expire.
3 min read
3d Render Red glossy Glass Dollar Sign icon in circle Blue Soft Maze, problems, solutions, strategy concept
iStock/Getty
Education Funding How Trump’s School Priorities Will Shape New Ed. Dept. Grants
The Department of Education on Tuesday announced the priorities it will use to award competitive grants.
6 min read
High school student teachers read a book to a preschool class.
High school student teachers read a book to a preschool class. Evidence-based literacy instruction will be one priority for the Trump administration as it awards competitive education grants. The priorities in those competitions will be school choice and "returning education to the states."
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Education Funding Education Department Adds $60 Million in Grants for Charter Schools
The department will free up the funding after it gained more spending leeway in a March budget bill.
5 min read
From the left, kindergarteners Kiera Lee, Jenny Sun, Gilbert Li, and Avelyn Fong, wait in line to walk the red carpet while listening to music from Beauty and the Beast, on the first day of school, at the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, K to 1, on South Broad Street, in Philadelphia on Sept. 9, 2019.
Students wait in line on the first day of school at the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School in Philadelphia on Sept. 9, 2019. The Trump administration has increased funding for charter school grants by $60 million.
Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
Education Funding Kennedy Assures Congress Funding for Head Start Will Not Be Cut
Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start."
1 min read
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before a Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025, in Washington.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025. The secretary told lawmakers the Trump administration wouldn't cut funding for Head Start after an early budget draft proposed eliminating the early childhood program for children from low-income families.
John McDonnell/AP