Gov. Rick Snyder Offers Schools Cash with a Catch (MI)

May 23, 2011

The governor announced last week that school districts will have the opportunity to receive $200 of the $300 per pupil budget cut back, but the money comes with strings attached.

To get all of that funding school districts must meet what the Governor calls best financial practices.

“There’s 150-million-dollars into best practice,” says Governor Snyder.

But what exactly is best practice?

According to Republican Rep. Paul Scott, best practice is an agreement made by house leadership, senate leadership, and the government’s office that includes a list of requirements for districts.

“It’s a unique opportunity to give schools in tough financial times the ability to receive more money per pupil if they meet four out of five requirements,” says Rep. Scott.

Rep. Paul Scott, says these are the requirements:

1. Schools must become policy holders on health insurance.

2: Consolidate services with other schools.

3: Take bids on outsourcing services.

4: Meet academic standards.

5. Teachers must pay 20% of health care benefits.

Rep. Scott says bidding out services such as, janitorial, cafeteria, and transportation saves the district money.

“This would be a positive for our economy because we’d be paying market price for those services. We could hire more teachers so this would be a boon for jobs across the state,” says Rep. Scott.

However, Eric Minore, President of the Swartz Creek Teachers Union calls the requirement unrealistic.

“I think it will be nearly impossible for them to accomplish that in the period of time before school begins,” says Minore.

Minore also says best practice takes away choice from school districts and will be seen by many as a mandate rather than an option.

“In general the biggest problem I have with it is it takes away local control from bargaining,” says Minore.