Thirty years this summer, my family moved from our home in Grand Rapids to Southwest Michigan. We moved mostly for the professional opportunity I found here. Before 1993 I had never spent time in Berrien County. My one visit to the county had been when as a young sailor I was hitchhiking through the area after visiting friends in Grand Rapids and was on my way to an Indianapolis duty assignment. I remember my inability to hitch a ride while walking what seemed like miles along old 31, now M-51, through Niles and South Bend. Eventually, someone gave me a ride to Kokomo where I was able to catch a bus to Indianapolis.
Prior to 1993, I was working as Budget Director for the Grand Rapids Public Schools. At the time the district was second largest in the state with a K-12 enrollment of about 28,000 students. The 1992-1993 school year was a difficult one for Grand Rapids and other schools in Michigan. That school year was before the current funding formula, Proposal A of 1994. In those days, schools like Grand Rapids all too frequently had to ask local voters for millage increases to fund day-to-day operations. Grand Rapids voters rejected a millage increase in 1992 and as a result we made a recommendation to the school board to cut the school budget by $15 million or about 10 percent. It was an extremely painful process; one that I wish I could but shall never forget.
It is currently budget season for school districts throughout Michigan. Next Friday, economists from the Senate Fiscal Agency, House Fiscal Agency, and the Governor’s administration will meet in Lansing to hold the bi-annual Revenue Consensus Committee. This meeting will finalize the tone for the state’s budgets to be approved by the legislature and governor. These budgets will impact not only K-12 funding, but also community colleges, higher education, Health and Human services, state police, roads and infrastructure, and other aspects of the state.
Michigan native the Rev Jim Wallis of Sojourners routinely would say that a “budget is a moral document”. I could not agree more with Rev Wallis. A budget is more than numbers on paper. It is a statement of our priorities as a nation, state, county, city or township, or school district.
Michigan largely funds its local schools with state revenues. According to data from the Michigan Department of Education’s annual financial report, nearly two thirds of K-12 school revenues come from the state. Federal and local funds combined make up the remaining one third. As a result, Michigan’s school aid act is vastly important to local districts as they develop their own budgets which by law must be approved by local school boards prior to July 1 annually.
In that regard, I would like to applaud the Senate and House school aid appropriation bills, SB 173 and HB 4286 respectively, currently winding their way through the legislative process in Lansing. While the two houses do not agree entirely on their school aid budgets, they seem to be taking steps in the right direction. Funding improvements in the foundation allowance per student, funding for at-risk and special education students, and bilingual education are featured as they should be in both proposed bills.
Since voters approved the Headlee Amendment to the Michigan constitution in 1978, special education funding has been a controversy and a legal tempest between the state and local school districts. It is far past time that the state steps to the plate and adequately funds special education. A free and appropriate education is a moral obligation for all students.
Funding for bilingual education and support for at-risk students, those who are behind their grade level, are also indicators of our moral responsibilities built into budgets. For students who may come from homes where English is not primary in the home, we have an obligation to help meet their unique educational needs. Funding for at-risk students is largely allocated to local school districts based on how many poor or near poor students are enrolled in the district. We need to hold local school districts accountable for educating these students. At the same time, we must raise up these children to ensure that they too can reach for the American dream.
A budget is indeed a moral document. Let’s hope next Friday’s Revenue Consensus keeps Michigan on track to fulfilling the moral obligation of our legislature and governor to all our 1.4 million Michigan public school children.
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