funding

With a conference committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, Michigan schools will come a step closer to finding out what their per pupil allotments will be for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Indications are schools can expect increases in the range of $56 to $112 for each student, and there will be some funding set aside for Governor Jennifer Granholm's proposal to combat school dropouts by building smaller high schools.

Senate Republicans tied a rock to the ankles of Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM's latest education reform ideas, but Democrats and Republicans alike supported a School Aid Fund (SAF) budget today that bumps up the state's payment to local school districts between $108 and $216 a student, setting the funding floor at $7,346 a child.

Speaking before the 13th Annual Governor's Education Summit — 21st Century Learning: A Foundation for a Prosperous Michigan, Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM pressed educators to help push her education agenda.

"If we don't make these changes, we'll look back and say 'what were we doing with these leadership positions," Granholm told the audience. "You're all in leadership positions or you wouldn't be here."

During her remarks, the governor pushed the education agenda she'd outlined in her 2008 State of the State Address and in her budget message. Key components are:

Saturday, March 1st, the association hosted an event for members to come together to share their experiences and ideas about contract strategies for their local bargaining association. Twenty-five MASSP members listened as Tom White, Executive Director of the school business officials gave insight to school funding, the Michigan economy, and retirement issues to understand when at the bargaining table. Tom Derderian, the labor attorney used by MASSP advised on strategies and answered questions specific to member contracts and group obligations. After Mr.

REVENUE ESTIMATE CAUSES GUARDED OPTIMISM – State officials reached consensus on the outlook for the state’s fiscal condition late last week and the final results held out some promise. As the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies predicted going into the January Revenue Estimating Conference, the conferees set total estimated revenues for the current fiscal year at $20.6 billion which is nearly $370 million below the fiscal projections established last May.

Attached is a summary of the Senate actions. Closure must be done before December 1st. The good news is the Senate is committed to make sure education remains funded at the levels promised.

Education Weekly

Published Online: November 21, 2007

Study Finds Need for Sharp School Spending Hike in Pa.
By Catherine Gewertz

Pennsylvania must increase education spending by nearly 27 percent in order to reach its goal of bringing all students to proficiency in mathematics and reading by 2014, according to a financial analysis ordered by state lawmakers.

Nearly half of the Democratic lawmakers in the House have signed on as sponsors to legislation augmenting the health care pooling reforms put in place for public school employees during the budget battle earlier this fall and the chair of the Education Committee said he plans on taking up HB 5454 .

The legislation would essentially make schools with 250 or more employees, and not 100 as in current statute, open up their health care coverage for competitive bidding.

Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed the budget for K-12.

The School Aid budget is one of the larger budgets, providing $13 billion ($34.9 million general fund) for K-12 districts, intermediate school districts and charter schools. The budget is $900,000 ($90,400 general fund) smaller than the 2006-07 budget.