finance
DPS to Make One in Five on Its Staff Reapply for Their Jobs
Response due Friday; 40 schools changing
BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
Detroit Public Schools is requiring 2,600 employees -- about one out of every five districtwide -- to reapply for positions just six weeks before the school year is set to begin.
DPS declared the positions at 40 school buildings vacant on Tuesday and said staff had until the end of the week to respond.
The schools -- many of which also are to get new principals -- are being reconstituted because of failure to meet state annual yearly progress standards for several years.
State Senate Republicans Propose Steep Spending Cuts, Including Elimination of Michigan Promise Scholarships
State Senate Republicans Propose Steep Spending Cuts, Including Elimination of Michigan Promise Scholarships
Posted by Peter Luke | Lansing Bureau June 16, 2009 21:51PM
LANSING -- Aiming for $1.2 billion in state budget reductions, Senate Republicans this week are pushing through some of the steepest spending cuts in recent memory, including the elimination of the $4,000 Michigan Promise college scholarship.
TRACKING THE STORY
Proposed cuts being taken up in the Michigan Senate this week:
• Elimination of the Michigan Promise scholarships: $140 million
• Cuts in needs-based scholarships: $60 million
• Cut to revenue sharing to cities and townships: $165 million.
Significant Cuts Across the Board
2009-10 School Aid Budget Gets Senate Committee Nod
Significant Cuts Across the Board
[MI Association of School Boards - Capitol News]
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 4447 to the Senate floor with $410 million in cuts to schools for this fall. These cuts include a $110 per pupil cut for all districts in the state amounting to $174 million for 2009-10. The additional cuts are coming from categorical funding with a complete elimination of early childhood funding. Here are most of the categorical cuts:
- Michigan School Readiness grants $103.5 million
- ISD special ed and voc ed equalization $45.9 million
- Declining enrollment $30.6 million
- At-risk funding for Dearborn $5.9 million
Providing a College Education That Michigan Families Can Afford
Providing a College Education that Michigan families can afford
Some interesting facts:
As reported in the Detroit Free Press:
• Michigan’s 15 public universities increased tuition and fees more than those in any other state in 2006.
• Michigan’s public universities increased tuition and fees 37% between 2003 and 2006.
As reported in the New York Times:
• The rising cost of college-even before the recession-threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans.
• Net college costs of a four year public university to a median income family was 28 percent, families in the lowest 20 percent of median income paid 55 percent of their median income to educate their children. These total percentages are reflected after financial aid is applied
School Struggles Outlined in Budget Review
Senate Appropriations School Aid Subcommittee members reviewed the status of the proposed 2009-10 budget Tuesday, but in the process heard some hard reminders of the condition of the state's schools.
The majority of school districts are seeing declining enrollments, the subcommittee heard.
And the number of school districts that are technically bankrupt is growing, with dozens with extremely thin financial reserves, they were also told.
The news was grim, committee members were told, and subcommittee chair, Sen. Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks), agreed.
The subcommittee also indicated some concerns that the House-passed version of HB 4447* and HB 4438* were larger than the 2009-10 budget proposals made by Governor Jennifer Granholm.
House Halts Vote on Expanded Sinking Funds
HOUSE HALTS VOTE ON EXPANDED SINKING FUNDS
Movement on final passage of sinking fund legislation came to a halt when disagreements erupted between the two parties Wednesday.
Democrats had procedurally rid all Republican amendments from HB 4313* without having GOP members speak on the floor when the rhubarb blossomed.
Rep. Tim Melton (D-Auburn Hills) told reporters afterward Republicans had agreed to have Democrats procedurally gavel through the amendments and then have a member speak to the bill, but they changed their minds and argued they wanted to speak on their amendments.
Together We Won't
The governor plans to improve education by merging school districts. But other states have tried it - and it doesn't work.
IN THE ONGOING effort to fix America's ailing schools, one of the most popular ideas is to shrink the number of school districts.
The country once had more than 130,000 independent districts managed by local communities. Merging them into larger units, advocates said, would lead to a more efficient system, reducing costs while offering students more opportunities and producing better academic results. This approach, part of a larger movement to standardize schools, reduced the number of districts by 90 percent between 1930 and 1970.
Office of the State Budget - School Aid
Office of the State Budget
Presented February 12, 2009
School Aid Highlights
Executive Budget
Fiscal Year 2010
Fiscal Year 2010 Balance Sheet
“All on the Table,” Granholm Says of Budget
– Armed with the latest Revenue Conference numbers, Governor Jennifer Granholm said this week that “all bets are off” and that significant reductions are in store for the 2010 Fiscal Year budget. She also said that, unlike earlier years when she said education and social welfare programs would be protected, all segments of the budget will be in play this time, including cuts to K-12 School Aid and the consolidation of departments. Ms. Granholm said no reduction in school funding should be necessary for the remainder of this fiscal year and she expressed hope the General Fund portion of the 2009 Fiscal Year budget—given the size of the carry-forward surplus—could be balanced without any additional Executive Order reductions.
