Senate's K-12 Floor Set At $7,346

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.
In her State of the State Address, Granholm asked for $32 million to break up large, failing high schools into smaller, 450-student institutions, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Ron JELINEK (R-Three Oaks) had a different vision for the "21st Century Schools Fund."
The chair is suggesting the money be made available as per-pupil grants that school districts can use to pay down debt, drop into a sinking fund or use to make immediate building repairs. The Democrats' attempt to recreate Granholm's proposal fell on party lines.
The Governor also has wanted to drop more money into 0-5 school readiness programs, but a Democratic effort to contribute $5 million was also shot down along party lines with the exception of Sen. Roger KAHN (R-Saginaw) and Sen. Randy RICHARDVILLE (R-Monroe), who voted for the extra funding.
But after a long debate over 17 proposed amendments, preceded by a three-and-a-half-hour caucus the Senate passed the SAF budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, 36-2. Sen. Bruce PATTERSON (R-Canton) and Sen. Nancy CASSIS (R-Novi) voted no. Patterson said he voted no because the Board of Education didn't give the Legislature an update on the schools' financial situation, as required by the Constitution.
The $13.4 billion School Aid Fund budget called for under SB 1107 is down a tad from Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM's $13.5 billion proposed budget. It's higher than the $13 billion the SAF netted in FY 2008.
SB 1107 moved out 14-3 from the Appropriations Committee last week (See "Senate Budgets, Sans DEQ, Move," 3/19/08).
Sens. Mickey SWITALSKI (D-Roseville) and Dennis OLSHOVE (D-Warren) tried to get amendments passed today that would have increased the foundation grant schools receive from the $71-to-$140 range to $92 to $142. Both failed.
Olshove said it would help equalize funding and Sen. Nancy CASSIS (R-Novi) agreed.
Jelinek said this would "rob the poor to support the wealthy."
That was a reversal of the debate that followed when the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee moved out the budget on March 11.
The bill included an additional $40 per pupil increase for schools at or above $8,433 in per-pupil funding. In response to the subcommittee boosting higher-end schools instead of lower-funded ones, Granholm Spokeswoman Liz BOYD had dubbed it an "anti-Robin Hood approach" (See "K-12 Budget Moved Minus Gov's Plan," 3/11/08).
Today, Cassis said there are "20 donor districts" that help subsidize other districts under the funding structure so Olshove's amendment would "equalize it."
"This isn't taking money from the poor and giving it to the wealthy," she said.
Sen. Bill HARDIMAN (R-Kentwood) opposed the amendment, praising the budget for "doing what Proposal A started out to do — close the gap" in funding between districts.
Sen. Wayne KUIPERS's (R-Holland) amendment passed, setting aside $100 for community programs that help reduce dropout rates. He also won a $100 placeholder for a study on reading proficiency, as he had previously introduced a bill proposing to flunk third graders who couldn't read.
Sen. Mike PRUSI's (D-Ishpeming) amendment passed, which was agreed upon as part of the FY 2008 budget. It includes $2.03 million for geographically isolated districts, up from $750,000 in the budget.
A Kahn amendment increasing declining enrollment funding from $15 to $20 million passed.
Sen. Gilda JACOBS (D-Huntington Woods) didn't get her amendment for a $100 placeholder for a study on school funding. The idea is to see if it takes more money to educate a student in Detroit vs. the Upper Peninsula, for instance. Cassis supported the idea, but it failed. Jelinek said it would be too expensive and other states have tried similar studies with limited results.