Michigan Schools Budget Includes $70-$140 Increase In Student Funding

By DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan school districts will receive between $70 and $140 more in traditional per-pupil funding under a compromise bill headed for a vote in the Legislature.

A conference committee approved a $13.9 billion budget Tuesday covering preschool through 12th-grade education in which districts getting the state minimum of $7,251 will receive $140 more next year, and districts receiving the $8,099 maximum will get $70 more.

The move is meant to reduce the gap between higher- and lower-funded schools. Final votes on the entire $55 million state budget are expected Wednesday and Thursday.

The Republican-led panel voted to eliminate $126 million in "categorical" payments to districts that meet best practices and improve test scores and reduced technology funding. The budget includes $18 million to ensure that every district gets a net increase of $25 per student if their increase in traditional funding is offset by a loss of the categorical funds.

"This is a good compromise, and the needle moves to trying to get more into the foundation allowance and less categoricals," said Rep. Tim Kelly, a Saginaw Township Republican who chaired the House-Senate committee.

"It was not widely perceived in the field as helpful," he said of rewarding districts for best practices. "I don't know that we need to incent repeatedly good behavior."

Lawmakers also set aside $50 million in case they later agree to Gov. Rick Snyder's recent request to cover debt in Detroit's troubled school district. That debate is unlikely to be resolved until the fall at the earliest.

Overall, the school aid budget will rise by $209 million, or 1.5 percent. It includes $26 million in new funding for the GOP governor's initiative to improve students' reading skills by third grade.

The state will spend $893 million - $216 million more - to cover a portion of districts' ballooning employee retirement expenses. Another $379 million, or $70 million more than this fiscal year, will go toward schools for "at-risk" students.

Four Republicans and one Democrat voted for the legislation. Another Democrat, Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood of Taylor, passed.

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