LANSING, Mich. - State Representative Dudley Spade (D-Tipton) joined today with House colleagues to pass two bills, HB 5436 and 5452, which would provide for increased funding for schools in Lenawee County and across Michigan.
HB 5436 would provide increased aid to middle schools in Lenawee County by $49 per pupil earmarked for math and science instruction. It would also add $20 million to the state's School Aid Budget Stabilization Fund which helps protect schools from yearly fluctuations in state revenue. HB 5452 would provide all but one school district in Lenawee County with an additional $18 per pupil foundation allowance increase.
"This extra funding will be of assistance to the students of Lenawee County and children across the state as schools work to meet the individual needs of their students while facing the challenge of providing children with an education in keeping with the needs of today's society," Spade said. "The money earmarked to better provide our children with the opportunity to excel in math and science will help prepare them for the good-paying jobs of the 21st Century. High-tech jobs are the jobs of the future and we must give our children the tools they need to succeed. This funding will be a step toward providing them those vital tools."
If passed into law, the bills would only take effect if the January 2006 revenue estimating conference confirmed that the state of Michigan actually has the funding to provide the increases. A revenue estimating conference earlier this year indicated that the state will likely exceed revenue estimates projected at the beginning of 2005. The aid package, which totals $35-million for Michigan's schools, would distribute the $49-per-pupil raise for middle schools through the Middle Schools Mathematics Initiative and require that schools use the money only for efforts to improve student scores on the math portion of the 6th and 8th grade MEAP test, or to help the school meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act. To maintain the additional funding past next year, schools must meet AYP requirements in math or show a 10% increase in MEAP math test passage rates. The additional $18 per student would only go to districts which currently receive less than $7,200 per pupil and the bill provides that no school may be raised to a foundation allowance of greater than $7,200.
"I am proud to support legislation that helps to improve the quality of education available to the children of Lenawee County," Spade said. "In recent years the state has faced challenges in providing our schools with the funding they need and I am pleased that we are choosing to use this money to help fulfill the promise we made to our citizens: to provide every child in Michigan with a quality education. This money will help schools make improvements in the education of our students and brighten their future here in Lenawee County and beyond."
The Lenawee County school districts that would receive the $18-per-pupil foundation allowance increase are: Adrian City School District; Addison Community Schools; Blissfield Community Schools; Britton Macon Area School District; Clinton Community Schools; Deerfield Public Schools; Hudson Area Schools; Morenci Area Schools; Onsted Community Schools; Sand Creek Community Schools and Tecumseh Public Schools.