Posted on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 10:54 a.m.
School aid budget cuts override effort begins, consolidation talk surfaces
By David Jesse
The Detroit Free Press has an interesting story today about actions in the state Legislature regarding schools.
Those include a possible override of Gov. Granholm's cut to the 20J funding for some districts, including Ann Arbor, and also talk about a statewide panel being set up to recommend consolidation of districts.
You can read the story on the Freep's Web site by clicking here.
Comments
Jim Mulchay
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 12:58 p.m.
Any updates on this "activity" in Lansing?
ypsituckey1
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 3:38 p.m.
Strange to me that people are not commenting on this article because it provides a solution to our county school problems. Throwing money at the problems is the only solution the pro millage people support exhibited by their lack of commments here. Amazing to me.
A Voice of Reason
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 4:14 p.m.
As I thought, the budget override is not a done deal. Why is the union, school district, school board and Citizen's Millage committee using scare tatics to win an election?
A Voice of Reason
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 4:11 p.m.
Why are is WISD asking for a millage then for school districts that need to be consolidated? I am going voting "no" on the WISD millage.
Tom Bower
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 1:36 p.m.
Lift the cap on public school academies. They are doing fine. Michigan Charter Schools Do More with Less Source: Michigan Association of Public School Academies http://www.charterschools.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=44 Charters are doing more with less. 62% of the state's charter students are minorities, one of the highest ratios in the country and significantly above the state average of 26 percent. About 58% of Michigan charter students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch. Charter schools receive a per-pupil funding of about $7,888. This is $1,198 less per student than all traditional schools statewide, and $2,576 less per student than the traditional district where the charter school is located. Charter total student funding is never more than what the local district gets. Charters are not allowed to levy millages or sell public bonds. In fact, many charters pay property taxes back to traditional districts. Michigan charters put their dollars in the classroom. Latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows 63% of all charter staff are in the classroom, directly helping children to learn. In contrast, the state average for all schools is 48% -- among the worst in the nation. According to the Michigan Dept of Education (MDE), charter school students in grades K-8 outperform students in similar traditional public school districts in 25 of 27 MEAP tests. Charter high school students have achieved an 86% graduation rate, 12% above similar traditional districts. According to the MDE, students in charter schools receive, on average, $1,778 less per year in combined state and local financial resources than students in host districts.