Eye on Lansing- Democrats: Protect K-12 funding in constitution

By Kathy Barks Hoffman Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Angered by the governor's plan to divert nearly $900 million from a fund that helps K-12 schools, Michigan Democrats said Monday that voters should approve a constitutional amendment to ensure the fund isn't tapped for other educational uses. Gov. Rick Snyder wants to use money from the $12 billion school aid fund to help community colleges and universities. The move will force school districts to absorb $470-per-student funding cuts and could be avoided if Snyder scaled back plans to slash business taxes, said Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer. "The governor is creating a crisis that doesn't exist," she said during a news conference at the Capitol. "There's no reason we have to cut our schools. The school aid fund is the one area that's flush." The East Lansing Democrat joined fellow Senate Democrats, school officials and parents in saying the fund should be protected. They proposed that lawmakers allow voters to decide by putting the issue on the November 2012 ballot, which would require a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. But even if approved, the amendment would come too late to affect the governor's plan. Still, Whitmer said, Snyder might rethink his proposal if lawmakers put the issue on the ballot. Snyder is trying to balance a state budget and follow through on promises to deeply cut business taxes in the shadow of a projected $1.4 billion funding shortfall for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Snyder has proposed shifting the nearly $900 million so funding for higher education wouldn't have to come from the depleted general fund. But that would drop the minimum grant money school districts could collect from $7,316 per student to $6,846 and the maximum from $8,489 to $8,019, according to the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council. The Republican governor has said school districts could absorb much of the cut by privatizing some services, reducing teacher benefits and sharing services. Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said Monday that the governor wants to bring down overall spending on education to address the lack of tax revenue that has kept education funding essentially flat in recent years. "This plan is aimed at addressing the underlying ... deficits so Michigan can set a new stable and strong education foundation and avoid the budget crises year after year," she said. But many school districts and parents fear that the roughly 6 percent cut would hurt the quality of their schools. Districts also expect to lose $245 per student to higher pension costs, leaving most to absorb an overall 8 percent to 10 percent loss. That's unacceptable to parents like Elizabeth Lykins, who joined Democrats at Monday's news conference. Lykins, a lawyer who has children in fourth and sixth grades in East Grand Rapids schools -- some of the best in the state -- said Snyder shouldn't use money intended for school districts for other purposes. She said she's been to local planning meetings, and deep cuts are expected in her district. "We have to shave another $3.5 million out of a $28 million budget this year and next. So over the next two years, all of our social workers, all of our libraries, all of our sports, all of our art, music, drama, gym -- gone. "We are losing everything except the teacher standing in front of the classroom," she said. "Anyone who's going to argue to me that our school districts are not efficient has not been to my school district. We have shaved everything." Although Democrats are in the minority in the House and Senate, Whitmer said she thinks some GOP lawmakers would support putting the issue on the ballot. If enough don't, she said she'd consider trying to mount a petition drive. Some GOP lawmakers have expressed concern over the size of the proposed cuts to school districts. They could get an earful from school officials, teachers and parents while they're back in their districts during a two-week recess that began Monday. A poll conducted a month ago by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA showed public education cuts aren't popular. It found that 62 percent of those surveyed opposed Snyder's plan to cut school funding, with 32 percent in favor and 6 percent undecided. The poll surveyed 600 likely voters statewide and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Published: Wed, Mar 30, 2011