What the Governor’s Talking about
This Week
Friday, November 13,
2009
Michigan Senate Recesses without Acting on K-12
Funding
After concluding its Thursday session, the Michigan
Senate recessed until Wednesday, November 18. The chamber took no action
regarding restoring cuts in school aid. House Bill 4860, the House-passed
bill that would restore $184 million in school aid cuts using federal Recovery
Act funds set aside for fiscal year 2011, remains in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
The Senate recess capped a week that saw the governor
visit with local school board officials, superintendents, educators and parents
in Plymouth and Mason, as well as two Lansing events: a Save Our Schools rally
on Tuesday at the State Capitol attended by 1,500 people, and a Thursday action
by Macomb County parents and school board members who delivered more than 1,000
letters of concern about school funding to their legislators.
Key
messages:
- The Michigan
Senate believes it is more important to support corporate loopholes over
public education. They choose to protect tobacco companies rather than
school budgets. They would rather support oil companies who get a DOUBLE
deduction in the tax code. Senate Republicans are choosing oil and
tobacco companies over our kids.
- Michigan schools
are hurt by the Senate Republican budget. Schools will be forced to
reduce or eliminate critical education programs, lay off teachers and increase
class sizes.
- House Bill 4860
addresses the immediate funding crisis for our K-12 school districts, even
though using Recovery Act dollars merely kicks the can down the road and
creates a bigger problem for the school aid fund next
year.
- The governor will
support any funding mechanism that protects schools from harsh cuts, but this
one-time funding is the least preferable option.
Governor Urges
State Senate to Keep the Michigan
Promise
In her radio address this week, the governor called on
the Michigan Senate to take action and keep the Michigan Promise scholarship,
the state’s first universal college scholarship.
The higher education budget passed by the legislature
for this fiscal year included no money for the Promise scholarships. Since
that time, the Michigan House has approved a bill that could restore funding for
the Promise scholarship this academic year. But that legislation now
languishes in the Michigan Senate.
Key
messages:
- This year, 96,000
students and their parents banked on the Michigan Promise. They budgeted
for the money promised to help them pay for school.
- Breaking the
Promise hurts students who were rightfully expecting their scholarship money,
and also damages Michigan’s economic future. We need a
workforce equipped with the education and training needed for 21st century
jobs.
- At this crucial
point in Michigan history, we can’t afford to
shortchange our students. We need to invest in them through the Michigan
Promise scholarship.
Governor to
Visit
College Campuses to Stand
with Students for Promise Scholarships
The governor also mentioned in her radio address that
she will be visiting college campuses across Michigan the next two weeks to stand with
students and educators in support of the Michigan Promise
scholarships.
Her stops will include Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley
State University, Saginaw Valley State
University and Oakland Community College.
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