Home » News

Last night, my House colleagues and I passed the School Aid budget, the final of 15 departmental budgets that make up the overall state budget. The K-12 funding bill also was approved by the Senate, and will be sent to the Governor. Instead of agreeing to a temporary budget, the conference committee negotiated a budget for the entire fiscal year.

Passing a K-12 budget was the hardest and most contentious budget bill to agree to. The revenues that fund our public schools were down significantly because of the economy. On top of that, revenue outlook for next year does not look much better. Unlike this year, there also will be very little stimulus money to help address revenue shortfalls.

Under the plan passed last night, we were able to preserve $100 million in funding for Michigan schools and students. This is part of my ongoing effort to protect as much school funding as possible in these tough economic times.

There's no doubt these cuts will be painful. However, the School Aid budget allows schools some flexibility to absorb these cuts by consolidating services with neighboring districts. I will continue to look at the way schools are funded to help resolve the funding problems that led to these cuts. It is essential that we look at all proposals that could preserve funding for districts, and keep more dollars in the classroom.

Education remains one of my top priorities and I will continue fighting to ensure our schools are fully and properly funded, and our kids can receive the high-quality education they deserve.