Michigan Senate Democrats unveiled a $21.8 billion K-12 spending plan Wednesday. That’s around a billion more than the current school aid budget.
Some of the largest spending increases in the proposal for next year’s schools budget come from raises in per-student spending and funding for kids considered “at-risk.”
In total, the plan would put an extra $517 million toward the base amount schools get for every student they have. Half of that raise would go toward increasing teacher pay.
At-risk funding would go up by 25% for a total of nearly $1.3 billion. Districts would then have the option of putting a portion of that money toward reducing K-3 class sizes.
State Senator Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) chairs a budget subcommittee that approved the proposal Tuesday.
“The goal of our budget is to provide stability to our education system while taking on the systemic challenges that we face. That's why we focused on increasing teacher pay, shrinking class sizes, rebuilding school infrastructure and investing in communities that need help the most,” Camilleri said during a press conference.
The proposal has faced some calls, however, to tighten accountability measures for schools and teachers, alongside the increased spending.
Molly Macek is director of education policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. She said shrinking class sizes alone might not have the desired effect.
“As far as the factors that schools have any control over, teachers are most important factors for improving student performance. So, there should definitely always be an emphasis on improving teacher quality,” Macek said Tuesday.
Macek said she did support the increase in per-pupil spending and the extra money for increasing teacher pay.
Aside from those items, the Senate’s proposal would put a total of $350 million toward mental health and school safety grants. The majority of that would be a one-time spending item. There would also be $350 million for one-time infrastructure grants.
The Senate plan would also keep up funding for the state’s universal free school meals programs -- though Camilleri warned that would largely depend on whether federal funding for the breakfasts and lunches remains available.
Now that the Senate and governor have released their own funding plans, eyes will next turn to the Michigan House for its proposal.
Last month, the Republican-led House passed a $15.6 billion school spending plan. But that was largely sold as a stop-gap spending measure in case lawmakers couldn’t agree on a new full plan in time for the new fiscal year.
Democrats derided the concept as a non-starter as long as it kept $5 billion in spending cuts to education.
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