No K-12 budget?
September 30th, 2009 at 7:40 pm by Tony Tagliavia under Uncategorized
There’s some word on the Senate floor that we may enter the new fiscal year — which starts at midnight — with all the final budgets passed except for K-12 education.
K-12 is one of the most contentious budgets because it would cut $218 in funding for every district for every student they teach. In Grand Rapids Public Schools, the cut would exceed $4 million. Kalamazoo and Forest Hills would see cuts over $2 million and Portage and Kentwood would each see a roughly $2 million cut.
The K-12 budget bill was put up for a vote in the House this afternoon but it didn’t have the votes to pass.
Which brings us back to the talk in the Senate.
Having no K-12 budget could be feasible, people on the Republican side of the Senate are saying, because state payments to schools aren’t due until later in October. The state would have several weeks, in theory, to figure out a school budget and how to fund it.
But a spokeswoman for House Democrats said the idea wasn’t really part of the plan in her chamber.
We’ll keep our eye on it.
–Tony
Tags: budget, education, K-12, Michigan, Michigan education, Michigan Schools, senate
Tony:
If you see a Senator, tell him/her that in the past the Michigan Department of Education (Dan Hahrahan in MDE School Finance office) needs to have the calculations of the monthly school aid payment loaded in the state’s computer on or about the 5th of 6th of the month in order to release the state aid payment to schools on the 20th. Apparently, they have a complicated process or an antiquated one. So, they can’t wait until just before school aid payments on the 20th.
If Dave Martell, Executive Director from MSBO is there somewhere in the capital building, he can tell them also.
Just have to make sure the kids are not allowed to be wasteful and destructive, as they are in some schools. Boxes and boxes of pencils get handed out and just wasted by kids every day. Teachers and administrators can be alittle less wasteful, also with copiers, electric lights, computers, etc.
You could try serving simpler breakfasts at school. Milk and a small muffin, etc. Lunch is not that far away from breakfast.