Senate passes more cuts to school funding

The Republican-led Michigan Senate passed a school funding bill for FY 2011, which begins October 1, that would add more drastic cuts to per-pupil aid in K-12 schools. This puts them at odds with every other party to the budget battles – Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic-led House and even the House Republican caucus. The Detroit Free Press reports:

The Senate, with mostly Republican votes, approved a $12.6-billion school funding plan that would reduce basic state aid to all school districts by $118 per pupil. But the Senate plan assumes $480 million in savings for schools by forcing tens of thousands of teachers into retirement, and requiring those still working to pay 3% more of their salaries toward their retirements.

Also, those that don’t retire under the incentive plan would lose their future dental and vision benefits when they retire at a later date.

The two related issues – school funding and teacher retirement reforms – are possible barriers to a agreement on a 2010-11 budget, and erasing a projected $1.5 billion deficit.

That’s an understatement. Gov. Granholm’s proposed budget would hold school funding steady at current levels, using revenues gained by extending the sales tax to cover some services. the House Republicans’ proposed budget would actually increase per pupil funding by $18 per student, but that’s mostly illusory; they would do this only by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for specific school programs like adult and vocational education.