School Budget Cuts May Be Steeper Than Thought
DETROIT (WWJ) - Some Michigan school districts have come up with what they say are far scarier numbers in school aid fund cuts than what it says in Governor Rick Synder's current proposed state budget plan.
The Governor has proposed a $300-per-pupil cut in state school aid in addition to a $170-per-pupil cut already scheduled to take effect from former Gov. Jennifer Granholm's last budget. That makes for a total of $470 in per-pupil state aid cuts.
However, Dave Martell with the School Business Officers Association said the cuts could be even more drastic than that.
"My membership is stunned and I think a lot of the education community is stunned as well," Martell said. "Not that we didn't expect to take part in some of the difficult decisions, but that $470 on top of our retirement rate going up... we're looking at a per pupil hit of at least $700 per pupil."
A spokesman for the Michigan Education Association said cutting money from schools will do nothing to move the economy in Michigan.
