LANSING – Oakland County lawmakers today passed a plan that will restore $184 million in funding to schools and help ease deep cuts to education that could seriously impact Michigan's ability to prepare children for future jobs. The lawmakers also voted to move the state's School Aid Budget deadline to June 1 in order to prevent the type of budget chaos that ensued when legislators failed to reach a budget accord by Oct. 1 this year.
"Moving the School Aid Budget deadline to June 1 will help our school districts craft their budgets," said State Representative Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield). "We need to do all we can to be sure our schools have the resources and tools necessary to give our children a top-notch education. I'm glad we could at least partially restore the funding today. Restoring 20j funding needs to be a priority. "
The plan passed by the House today will leverage $184 million in federal dollars helping to ease the
per-pupil cuts that were imposed on Michigan schools last month.
"The thought of balancing the budget at the expense of our children is appalling," State Representative Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills) said. "Education has to be part of our shared vision as lawmakers on what it's going to take to build a stronger Michigan. If we expect to turn Michigan's economy around, we need to put the political games aside and get serious about making education a priority. Despite the funding that was restored today, our schools are still staring down some massive reductions."
In addition, the House voted to move the date that the Legislature must complete the School Aid Budget from Oct. 1 to June 1. This change will better allow Michigan schools to plan for their academic school year before it begins, rather then waiting until it has already begun.
"Schools need enough time to prepare for the school year and that can't happen if they have no idea how much money they can expect from Lansing," said State Representative Tim Melton (D-Pontiac). "Looming cuts and drawn-out budget negotiations only paralyze schools and harm our children's education. Investing in education is the best way to improve our schools and turn around Pontiac and Michigan as a whole."
The plan also makes it a priority to provide an additional $25.7 million for Michigan's 20j schools and $25.7 million for Michigan's under-funded schools. This $51.4 million would be funded through the Michigan Future Fund once revenue is identified. Local schools benefiting from this plan include: Avondale School District, Birmingham City School District, Bloomfield Hills School District, Clarenceville School District, Farmington Public School District, Lamphere Public Schools, Novi Community School District, School District of the City of Royal Oak, Southfield Public School District, Troy School District, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, and West Bloomfield School District.
"Every child deserves access to a good education and the chance to succeed," said State Representative Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield). "Children are our future and preparing them with a proper education must remain a top priority no matter the economic struggles we face. We cannot allow our kids' education to suffer as a result of difficult budget negotiations."
State Representative Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods) said:
"Schools and teachers perform one of our most important responsibilities as a community. We have to keep a quality education a reality for all of our children, and we can't do that if education funding is repeatedly slashed. We need to provide our kids with the tools necessary to compete for jobs in this global, knowledge-based economy."