Back-to-School and the MI Education Budget
As both a teacher and labor leader, I’ve seen Michigan’s students and educators face countless challenges—but few moments have been as dangerous as this one. As kids return to classrooms this fall, families should be focused on learning, not wondering if lawmakers will pass a budget to keep schools open past September.
That question exists because some lawmakers in Lansing are holding the education budget hostage and threatening to snatch food out of the mouths of our children. Instead of working toward stability, they passed a proposal that guts essential programs and pushes costs onto working families.
As students enter the classroom they need our support, they need resources, and they need food in their bellies. We need to stop requiring teachers to resource their classrooms and instead provide them with support services, supplies, and smaller class sizes. Access to a quality, public education is not a negotiation. But once again here we are…
The House budget leaves a $2.2 billion hole in school funding. That’s on top of the $1.1 billion hole that Michigan’s budget is projected to have because of Trump’s tax bill.
Meanwhile, the state Senate has moved forward with a responsible budget that invests in students and communities. But unless the House acts, the state will creep closer to a government shutdown on October 1.
For years, school budgets have been finalized by July 1 so districts can plan. This year, Republican leaders are running out the clock, and Michigan families are left wondering what will happen next.
To break it down for you:
The House plan would end universal school meals. While the House budget doesn’t cut school meals altogether, school districts are already bracing for the impact that comes with not having dedicated funding towards meals.
The House plan would force layoffs across the state. With programs like special education getting shortchanged and mental health services getting cut, school districts are facing too much uncertainty and are already starting to layoff staff, as the Michigan Advance reports.
The House plan would leave children without means to get to school. The House budget forces transportation funding cuts for rural school districts. Rural school districts on average spend more of their annual budget on transportation than suburban and urban districts because kids have to travel further distances. A plan that ignores our rural students will surely create unequal outcomes for our state.
And the damage doesn’t stop at K-12. The House budget eliminates funding for community colleges, slashes Michigan State University by 18 percent, and guts the University of Michigan by 65 percent. For working-class families, that means skyrocketing tuition and fewer opportunities, while universities are punished for offering diversity and inclusion programs.
Michigan has made strides in protecting and advancing public education over the past few years, yet the state House is dead-set on undoing this progress. Michigan’s kids can’t wait. Lawmakers must pass a fully funded, equitable education budget now—not in the 11th hour, and not with cuts that sell out our future. As we look to the future we must prioritize our students and educators, not use them to negotiate with.
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Terrence Martin, Sr., AFT Michigan President
