The Fiscal Year 2014 School Aid Conference
Committee budget (Senate Bill 182) was approved on Thursday afternoon. The $13
billion funding report included a guarantee that every school district would
receive an increase in its per-pupil allocation. A reduction in what the state
pays toward the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System was also
included in the report. After various
hold-harmless adjustments were inserted into the report, the Committee essentially
ensured that every school district would receive at least a $5 per-pupil
funding increase. Lastly, the report included a $65 million increase for the
Governor’s pre-kindergarten Great Start Readiness Program but $25 million of it
will be placed in a reserve fund. If there is sufficient need for the
additional money, legislative action would be required to transfer the money into
the program.
Meanwhile, the conference committee on the
Michigan Department of Education budget was rescheduled until next week. The
main source of contention is whether funding should be appropriated for the
full implementation of Common Core Standards, a set of education principals
established by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief
State School Officers. Gov. Snyder supports the full adoption of the
guidelines; however, some Republican lawmakers want to delay or completely stop
the implementation.