Good News Comes for Michigan Students, School Funding (MI)

October 5, 2010

There’s some good news regarding Michigan students and school funding.

Lawmakers have approved a bill that would increase the amount of money per student this year.

In the pot for Michigan schools is more than $300 million in federal money to be divided up. That will break down to roughly around $154 more per students.

But will you see it in the classroom? There was a push to get more money from the feds because schools knew that more money was needed.

Ric Hogerheide from the teachers union says the money will be spent on staff, possibly bringing back some laid-off teachers and even hiring some new ones.

The moves would help to reduce class sizes while improvi ng interaction between students and teachers.

"Instead of sitting back in the classroom and saying, ‘Well, I do not want to answer questions because if they have 20 people with their hands up, there are people who can talk to them, work with them, show them where the information is and make sure they are on track and getting their education," he said.

The funding fix is only a one-time deal, according to Hogerhiede. Michigan schools will face the same financial problem unless the funding structure changes.

"We are going to have to start cutting people," he said. "We are going to have to cut to the bare bone because we do not have a way to shift dollars."

The $154 will restore funding to where it was before previous cuts. The governor still has to sign the bill.