Friends: Many of you have heard about the proposed budget cuts to our schools. We are looking at a cut of $470 per child in EGR (others of you in larger districts are looking at even larger cuts). This translates to about $2,000,000 in additional cuts to EGR. EGR has already cut over $3,000,000 from its budget the last 8 years (1.5 million just last year of a 28 million dollar budget). Many of you know this since some excellent programs and staff were cut that directly impacted your child’s education. That said, we are lean and have still remained very competitive on a statewide and national level. But I can assure you, we will not remain this way with the draconian cuts being proposed. There is simply no way to preserve our standards of excellence without sacrificing, severely, the education our kids will receive in the classroom. Teachers will have to be let go. Class sizes will get larger---much larger (Detroit Public Schools is predicting 60 children to a class due to the impact on their budget).
The problems are structural: In 1994, we passed Proposition A, which significantly lowered our property taxes but also hampered our ability to pass local millages for our schools. Thus, since 1994, your property taxes, some sales tax dollars, and some lottery funds have gone into a fund in Lansing which is then divided up among all the students in the state. Since our education dollars are tied to the value of our homes and sales tax (both which have declined significantly over the last decade), the schools in Michigan have been in cutting mode for many years. You have not paid any additional taxes for your local schools since 1994 (unless tied to a millage for capital---ie buildings). The only increases have been to your property taxes---and for most of us, those have gone down. The school districts have done more with less and been incredibly fiscally responsible. Those of us sitting in on budget meetings and watching from the inside know how hard our teachers and administration have worked to make this happen. The cuts cannot continue. It will devastate public education as we know it.
This is a call to action for all of you. This is your wake-up call if you have not been paying attention to this issue. This is not just someone else’s problem. It is every parent of a public school child’s problem. In fact, it should be everyone’s problem since public education is an important component of a thriving democracy and a thriving economy. Just when we all have heard over and over again that education is the ticket to the future and our only way of competing in a global economy, it is being severely cut. Not just cut---but decimated. I honestly shudder to think of the decisions that will have to be made after years and years of cuts cuts cuts. There is nothing left to cut.
I am not prepared to concede on this; it is far too important. Michigan has a proud history of excellence in public education. Please join me in sending a message to our elected leaders that we would like to keep it that way. We have a small window of time. If you do not act, then don’t complain later.
Things you can do:
1. Join the EGR Legislative Committee Facebook Group so you can receive regular updates on this critical issue.
2. Check out our EGR Legislative Committee blog for updates.
http://egrpseducationadvocates.blogspot.com/
3. Write or email your State Representative and State Senator: Tell them that they campaigned on the promise that education is important but that this proposed budget sends the opposite message. Tell them that you will hold them accountable. Tell them that the funding levels proposed by the Governor are wholly inadequate and will decimate our schools at a time when we need them to be competitive with the rest of the world (and the rest of the world is investing heavily in education). Please do this. Everyone thinks “someone else will do it” but we all need to take a minute and do this! Even if you just need to call and leave a voicemail, please do so. Our electeds have got to hear from you.
State Representative Lisa Posthumus Lyons
lisalyons@house.mi.govmailto:lisalyons@house.mi.gov
Mailing Address: PO Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909
Toll Free Phone: 855.596.6786
State Senator Mark Jansen
http://www.senate.michigan.gov/ima_form.asp?name=COMMENT28&form_path=e:/webforms/rep
Mailing Address: PO Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Phone: 517.373.0797
Other area reps and senators for those of you live outside East Grand Rapids:
http://www.house.michigan.gov/replist.asp
http://www.senate.michigan.gov/members/alphamemberlist.htm
Sample letters for those of you who want some guidance:
Dear Ms. Lyons,
I found out today that the School Aid Fund is now responsible for community colleges and universities as well as public K-12 education. While I am an advocate for education, I believe that this transfer of responsibility ignores the intention of the voters who passed Proposal A in 1994 to secure funding for K-12 education. I found out that with this transfer, public K-12 education will receive a $300 million cut which translates into a $300 per student cut. This is unacceptable. The Governor asked for shared sacrifice. With the number of cuts this year and last, public education has taken more than its share of cuts and sacrifice. Please use your position as a member of the State House representing me and save the integrity of K-12 public education.
Sincerely,
Dear Senator Jansen,
I found out today that the School Aid Fund is now responsible for community colleges and universities as well as public K-12 education. While I am an advocate for education, I believe that this transfer of responsibility ignores the intention of the voters who passed Proposal A in 1994 to secure funding for K-12 education. I found out that with this transfer, public K-12 education will receive a $300 million cut which translates into a $300 per student cut. This is unacceptable. The Governor asked for shared sacrifice. With the number of cuts this year and last, public education has taken more than its share of cuts. Please use your position as a member of the State House representing me and save the integrity of K-12 public education.
Sincerely,
Thanks so much for your time and feel free to contact me if you have any questions related to funding.
