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Learn Sites > School Finance Blog > Posts > Legislature Pulls Bait and Switch on State’s K-12 Students (from MEMSPA)
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10/22/2009
Education Community Implores Legislators to Balance the K-12 Budget
When the Legislature passed this year’s K-12 budget last week, the House and the Senate okayed a $165 per pupil cut to the state’s school districts, a deep cut that will reduce services that children need to succeed. But the School Aid Act that was passed included $100 million in new revenues in order to balance the budget. The Legislature has not come to an agreement on those revenues, and without further action, the cut to the state’s school districts will skyrocket .
On Wednesday, the state’s Treasury Department sent a memo to Gov. Granholm indicating that the projected shortfall in the School Aid Fund (SAF) is much larger than was earlier predicted.
State Treasurer Bob Klein now estimates the budget shortfall will be approximately $264 million for Fiscal Year 2009-10 if the School Aid budget is enacted in its current form, which could result in a total cut of more than $300 per pupil this year.
This would be $400,000 more than noted previously. A total of $900,000 for Thornapple Kellogg less in revenues for this year. The additional cut may happen as early as next month.
The education advocates are calling on legislators to enact revenue measures immediately in order to fund the budget they have already passed. Most are also urging both chambers to address the state’s structural deficit, which has caused a continuous cycle of budget gaps year after year. |
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