School Funding Crisis — Please contact your legislator
This email was forwarded to NPS by John Helmholt at the GRPS–please take action–today if you can:
If you knew today that a Katrina-type hurricane would hit your property in a couple of weeks, would you be sipping lemonade by the beach, or would you be at the lumberyard buying plywood to cover your windows and “batten down the hatches” on your home?
That’s exactly where we find ourselves with the scenario for state school aid. Revenues have declined so dramatically that the BEST CASE SCENARIO for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school aid budgets is a combined cut of $530 per student. This represents a cut of more than 7 percent to the current base foundation grant of $7,316.
Our districts already have cut millions of dollars from their budgets in recent years. Services have been cut back and positions have been left unfilled. Cuts of the magnitude now being considered in Lansing will force districts to consider the elimination of arts, athletic programs and transportation. Email your legislator today and let him/her know these cuts are unacceptable. Use all or part of the message below and add any additional information you may have about specific cuts made in your school district, then click on the link provided to get your legislators’ email addresses.
Dear Rep/Sen:
Repeatedly, you and your colleagues have identified education as a top priority for our state. If it isn’t, it should be, as Michigan’s only way out of the recession is to develop the higher-order skills necessary to attract the high-paying jobs of the future. Currently, state revenue projections indicate school aid funding will fall short of current spending levels by $530 per student over the next two years. This would represent a cut of more than 7 percent from the current base foundation grant of $7,316. This is unacceptable for our students, our schools and the future of our state. I ask you, as my elected representative, to support new revenue options to ensure full funding for schools. Our schools cannot be expected to meet the new, rigorous Michigan Merit Curriculum Standards with fewer dollars.
Thank you.
http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Departments/HighlightSheet/HIk12_web.pdf
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa/schoolaid.asp