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School officials this year will likely wake up to the reality Michigan homeowners are facing: declining property values mean the loss of real money — value upon sale for homeowners and tax dollars for school districts.

News is percolating through the capital that sinking property and home values around the state could force state lawmakers to readjust the state school aid budget, because the dollars they thought would be available may not materialize. That could hurt efforts to create smaller high schools and pump more state support into early childhood education.