K-12 funding compromise apparently reached

Peter Luke reports that Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican leadership in both houses of the state legislature have apparently reached a compromise on K-12 funding that will reduce the size of anticipated cuts.

The legislation comes as the Snyder administration and lawmakers have reached an apparent agreement to put $310 million back into the K-12 budget.

Snyder proposed a $470 per pupil cut: $300 in new cuts and $170 that’s already on the books. The House reduced that to $426 per student, the Senate to $340.

The budget agreement takes the reduction to $270. All schools would receive an effective $100 more through a one-time reduction in the assessment schools pay for employee retirement costs.

Districts that practice “best practices” – including requiring employees to pay more for their health insurance, tenure and testing reforms and pursuing the consolidation or sharing of services – would receive another $100 per pupil.

That $310 million is there because this week’s revenue estimating conference predicted that the School Aid Fund would have an extra $429 million this year due to increased tax receipts.