Snyder, GOP Budget Deal Reduces Per-Pupil Cuts

The governor and legislative leaders announced a tentative deal Thursday that would lessen planned cuts to schools and put aside money in the state's rainy day funds.

Gov. Rick Snyder, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and House Speaker Jase Bolger made the announcement in Lansing.

The terms of the deal include:

• A per-pupil cut that would be less than $100. The original cut proposed by Snyder was to be $300 per student. Last year, the state cut $170 from per pupil funding.
• $310 million in funding for K-12 schools more than was originally proposed. $150 million of that would be distributed on a per-pupil basis to districts that meet "financial best practice measures." The schools would also get a one-time $160 million to help defray retirement system costs.
• $30 million in additional funding for local governments, half of which goes to cities, villages and townships as part of the Economic Vitality Incentive grants, and the other half going for county revenue sharing.
• $50 million for the Michigan Strategic Fund for economic development activities, including brownfield redevelopment and historic preservation incentives. 
• A $25 million cap on incentives for the film industry.
• Money for the state's rainy day funds, including $255 million for the  Budget Stabilization Fund and $133 million to a School Aid Fund reserve account.

The governor had asked legislators for a deal by May 31.

"We will have a timely, balanced budget in place so that our municipal and school partners can accurately plan for the coming year, avoiding the chaos that too often has been foisted upon them due to Lansing's inaction," Snyder said in a statement.

To brace for the budget cuts, Chippewa Valley had already issued to 338 teachers, and L’Anse Creuse sent out 35 for the next school year. The district administrators called that a “precautionary measure.”

In Utica Community Schools, no layoffs were planned, but the district was bracing to face a $19 million budget deficit.

Chippewa Valley Trustee George Sobah said this news is better than the original proposed cuts, but he is still wary of the legislation's fine print.

"I still feel that by tying the 'best practices' legislation to the per pupil funding, the governor is interfering with the ability of the district to reach settlements in our contracts," Sobah said. "These are areas that should be left to the collective bargaining process. Even though the cuts are not as deep as proposed, they are still cuts."

And though the per pupil cost detailed in the current budget is not as severe a cut as expected, Sobah said the cut is still a strain on the district.

"I also still find it appalling that our district, Chippewa Valley Schools, receives less per pupil funding than charter schools," he said. "Charter schools have less restrictions, more money, and still we offer a better education. The legislators rave about successes of charter schools and want to create more of them and continue to punish Chippewa Valley by not properly funding our district. In my opinion, that is part of the problem with the funding of public education."

All three districts must have their 2011-12 budgets set by July 1. Until the state budget is set, districts will operate on estimations based on what plays out in Lansing.

"Obviously, the single most talked about part of this budget has been funding for education," said Rep. Ken Goike, R-Macomb Township. "It now appears that under this budget, districts will receive $100 less per pupil from the state than they did last year. This is a significant improvement over the governor's original $300 proposal, but I recognize that a $100 reduction will still force districts to make some tough decisions."

Goike said he believes districts will be able to offset this 1.2 reduction in state aid "without negatively impacting students," but will continue to closely monitor this as districts finalize their budgets.

"(I) have committed myself to removing costly state imposed mandates on districts to help offset this reduction," he said.

While Goike is hesitant to voice full support of a still evolving budget, he said he does believe "this is a good budget for the difficult times facing our state."

"I know not everyone will be happy with every detail, but stepping back, we have balanced the budget without any accounting gimmicks, maintained every core service, reformed entitlement programs, started to pay down our accumulated debt, and done so on an ambitious timeline," he said.

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