LANSING - The Michigan House had a busy day Wednesday after a three-month leave, returning to Lansing to pass updated school funding legislation.
“Investing in your future while doing it in a fiscally responsible manner is what michigan residents expect, and I’m glad we were able to deliver,” said Rep. Matt Koleszar, (D) 22nd District.
Michigan lawmakers appropriated $125 million for school safety and mental health, along with making permanent a change in teacher pension contributions that Democrats say will put hundreds of millions of dollars back into schools.
“That allows our local school districts even more stability and flexibility and a guarantee of more of the funds that will be available for them to invest into our students in their classrooms,” said Rep. Betsy Coffia, (D) 103rd District.
The June budget received pushback from Republicans following the reduction of a $328 million school mental health program, which was cut by $302 million this year.
Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, said that school districts were able to effectively use these funds previously.
“What we do know is that districts did rely on those dollars in previous fiscal years to provide student mental health supports and school safety improvements, and that includes hiring people, that includes purchasing softwares and and physical infrastructure upgrades, things like that to help make the school environment more safe,” he said.
Democrats have said that the program was boosted by one-time federal COVID dollars, and that $25 million remains available annually. Plus, school districts have received around $600 million in flexible funding, which the state suggests should be spent in part on mental health programs.
The $125 million restoration received strong bipartisan support from nearly 100 lawmakers, bringing the program to about 40% of its 2023 level. But Republicans maintain the funding should be restored in full.
“We are disappointed that it’s not the full amount,” said Rep. John Roth, (R) 104th District. “Schools are still going to have to make some cuts and some pretty heavy decisions when it comes to the fact that we’re only going to reimburse, or reinstall, about a third of what was done before. But it is a start.”
The funds will likely be available to school districts before the start of the next school year.