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State budget & taxes

State education and school aid budget, and revenue sources for schools

A surplus for schools? Don't hold your breath

Historical Amnesia: Schools don't need that money, do they?

Budget update: Let's make a deal [with update]

Money, Money, Money: K-12 budget bills move to conference

State School Aid budget action alert

State Budget action alert

Everyone who values public education in Michigan needs to speak out NOW

Dear Friends and Supporters of Education,

This is an extraordinary moment for public education in the state of Michigan. The full impact of the Great Recession, and of years of trying to ignore funding problems in education, are hitting our communities all at once. Dramatic changes are proposed, because "dire times require drastic measures." Over $1 billion would be cut from education under the Governor's proposed budget, most of that from K-12 education. These cuts would dramatically affect our schools, and limit the education we can offer to our children for years to come.

Do the changes make sense? Do they reflect the real needs and values of the people of Michigan? We're not so sure.

Budget Brief: Snyder's education budget proposal

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder presented his first budget proposals to the state legislature on 17 February. While it wasn't quite the "atomic bomb" Lt. Governor Brian Calley had promised, it produced shock waves nonetheless. By scrapping the Michigan Business Tax and replacing it with a much narrower corporate income tax, the proposed budget cuts business taxes by over $1 billion in 2011-12 and by $1.7 billion in the year after. To pay for this and still balance the budget, the governor wants to cut overall education spending by nearly $1.1 billion next year; his proposal also makes changes to the income tax that will increase revenues in large part by requiring retirees and low-income families to pay more in taxes. School districts may face overall reductions of $715 per pupil. Evidently, this is Gov. Snyder's vision for "reinventing Michigan."

Brief: Budget hangups

*Negotiations on a school aid budget for FY2011 ground to a halt as House and Senate conferees split on what to do with the projected School Aid Fund surplus.* After months of uncertainty, closure appeared near on the school aid budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. A deal in principle was reached among House and Senate members on the conference committee reconciling the differences in "the two chambers' versions of the budget bill, SB 1163":http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2010-SB-1163. The Senate version, passed before the "optimistic news from the May revenue estimation conference":http://www.miparentsforschools.org/node/127, had included further cuts of $118 per pupil plus larger transfers from the cash-strapped general fund. The revenue conference projections, however, allowed lawmakers to consider making no cuts at all for fiscal 2011. The news was good enough, in fact, that the School Aid Fund might emerge with a surplus when all was said and done. And that is where the trouble began.

A sliver of good news from the revenue conference

The State's key financial agencies released their consensus revenue estimate today, updating their predictions for state tax revenue for both this fiscal year and next. The consensus estimate for School Aid revenue for this year (2009-10) is now $10.75 billion, up $292 million (2.8%) from the estimates made in January. The estimate for next year (2010-11) is now $10.83 billion, up $352 million (3.4%) from the January estimates. These new projections may limit school aid cuts for next year to the $118 per pupil passed by the Senate earlier this spring, or possibly reduce it even more.

Status report: Where do we stand today? (Race to the Top)

For much of December, the Legislature was consumed with bills that lawmakers hoped would increase Michigan's chances to get a share of Federal "Race to the Top" funds. Money from this stimulus program would be awarded to states which came out on top in a competition which evaluated reform efforts, and Michigan might have qualified for as much as $400 million. In the end, Michigan was not chosen as one of the finalists for the first round of funding, but the changes to Michigan law enacted in late December are not voided as a result.

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