LANSING — The Michigan Legislature failed to pass a K-12 budget Tuesday, breaking a previously established deadline and years of precedent.
State lawmakers are now pointing fingers for the lack of an agreement, which is leaving educators in the dark on their finances going into the school year.
More than $20 billion in funding remains uncertain due to disputes between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled house.
“We know that all three kind of legs of the stool were talking — the House, the Senate and the governor’s office, but of course, nothing came together,” said Matt Schueller, government relations director with the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators.
July 1st marked the start of the new accounting year for schools, and without a finalized education budget, districts are flying blind on how much funding they’ll receive compared to last year.
“It’s already having an impact, as far as — without the certainty, teacher and staff contracts, in some cases can’t be finalized,” Schueller said.
Senate Democrats passed a budget in April modeled off of previous years. That proposal includes hundreds of millions of dollars meant for specific areas, such as universal school breakfast and lunch, student mental health support and career and technical education.
And in June, House Republicans passed a competing plan that would provide more than $3 billion to schools with fewer strings attached, increasing the per-pupil funding to $12,000.
“Give those teachers who are right there on the front line — they know exactly what they need in their classrooms, and we wanted to give them more flexibility, instead of telling them exactly how they have to spell that to spend that money,” said Rep. Ken Borton, (R) District 105, Gaylord.
But Senate Democrats argue that some support should be guaranteed for all Michigan students.
“The House Republican proposal cut programs like CTE and the free breakfast and lunch program,” said Sen. Darrin Camilleri, (D) District 4, Trenton. “Those are critical components of an overall education for our kids here in Michigan”
The lawmakers will have to come to a conclusion by Oct. 1, when the state’s fiscal year begins.
Education groups say that they’re worried the school budget could be used as a bargaining chip in debates about the rest of the state budget, which makes up more than $60 billion in spending.
“Then we start to really, really get concerned that schools are not going to get state aid payments,” Schueller said. “And that’s when, you know, we’re not just talking staffing issues, issues with a calendar — I mean, we’re talking, are we going to keep our schools open? That’s a long time away.”
The House and Senate both met Tuesday before breaking for the Fourth of July. They’re not set to return until July 15.