LANSING — With Michigan less than three weeks from a state government shutdown, Northern Michigan educators are again warning that lawmakers need to act fast to avoid disruptions in the classroom.
The Legislature is more than two months past their legal deadline to adopt an education budget plan and school officials say the delays are risking support for students who need it the most.
“Every day that passes without a budget, districts are forced into further contingency planning, instead of focusing on what we should be right now, which is student success,” said Dr. Tina Kerr, executive director of the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators. “These superintendents and their entire teams are spending time and resources, again, trying to guess what the funding will look like.”
Lawmakers have traditionally agreed to an education spending budget by July 1, the start of the fiscal year for school districts. Previous Legislatures even put that requirement into state law.
But the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate have yet to agree to a plan, violating that law and leaving more than $20 billion in school funding in limbo.
“Schools need stability, and Michigan cannot afford budgets that delay or damage learning opportunities for kids any longer — it’s time to get it done,” Kerr said.
Education leaders say that the delay has led to difficult decisions for schools.
“When the budget is late, the students who need the most help are the first to lose it,” said Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. “Literacy coaches, bilingual teachers, after-school programs, mental health services — the very supports that close opportunity gaps are often the first on the chopping block.”
Dr. John VanWagoner, superintendent of Traverse City Area Public Schools, says that he hasn’t seen a situation like this before.
“This is my 10th year as a superintendent in the North and this is the hardest year so far to guess what our budget will be,” he said. “The House and Senate budgets are so far apart that we cannot, in good faith, project what funding we eventually will get.”
VanWagoner also says that some of the district’s support efforts are threatened by the delay, including housing programs.
“If a budget’s not done soon, people will be laid off in these community programs because of this delay, and it’s for positions that serve our most vulnerable kids — those in poverty, those with mental health issues, those that need those critical services,” he said.
No progress has been made publicly on an education budget. House Speaker Matt Hall said a week ago that negotiations were going nowhere, and lawmakers haven’t ruled out the possibility of a shutdown.
“Michigan cannot build a world class education system on a foundation of guesswork — we know exactly what’s at stake,” Spadafore said. “Political gridlock cannot be allowed to rob students of stability and opportunity.”