Not everyone is happy with it, but there is a budget agreement in place to cover K-12 spending at the state level. As the budget process continues at a speed much faster than last year’s cliffhanger  in September, the Senate reconvened Thursday after a weeks-long holiday to hammer out a plan to give Michigan’s public schools a pretty good  idea of how much state money they can count on for their own budgets.

Continued – When the House and Senate took a long break for the 4th of July, the session came to a close with the budget in place for higher education, but no agreement for local school districts. The funding for K-12 did not come before the Senate before the break because of a dispute between the Republican-controlled body and the Democratic governor. Governor Granholm insisted on smaller high schools in some Michigan cities, claiming it would help slow down the  dropout rate and improve test scores. She wanted that program funded out of the general budget.

Apparently there was a compromise. Under the plan approved by the Senate, public schools will get between $56 and $112 more per student. The measure includes grant money to start smaller high schools. About $15 million is included for the small high school program. The governor wanted $300 million but lawmakers resisted that figure because it would have involved borrowing money. Under this plan, districts with graduation rates of less than 70 percent would be eligible for funding. But there is an accountability catch built in. If those schools aren’t graduating 80 percent or more of their students after three years, they would have to give back half the money.

The entire measure passed the Senate by a 31-4 vote. The House could vote on the proposal as early as next week when it returns to session on Wednesday.

When you do the math, the per-pupil increase comes to less than two percent. A sliding scale based on state funding is used to determine how much each district gets. The lowest-funded districts in the state would get the largest per-pupil increase. That is the $112 amount; amounts then go down from there.

Some lawmakers say it’s a sign Michigan’s state government continues to struggle to make ends meet.  .

Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), told Michigan Messenger she was disappointed that that figure won’t even cover inflation.  But she admitted Michigan’s sluggish economy means “tough times” and belt tightening is necessary.

In statement released after the vote, Sen. Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks) said, “School districts are seeing a smaller-than-anticipated increase this year, but it is an increase nonetheless.”