It’s been 2 and a half months, and Michigan schools remain without a budget.
The state legislature set a July 1st deadline to pass the statewide education budget, but there is still no deal in sight. With the financial year beginning October 1st, school districts face mounting uncertainty about the state of education funding.
This challenge stems from disagreements across the Michigan legislature, who have been unable to reach a compromise since budget considerations in April. One of the largest programs on the line is universal breakfast and lunch, a service providing students across the state with free meals. This program provides many students’ only warm meal during the day, benefiting 1.5 million students across 3,400 Michigan schools.
Superintendent Mark Greathead published a statement about the free lunch program in August, releasing “This program has been a tremendous benefit to our students and families, ensuring that no child goes hungry and that every student is better prepared to learn.”
If the budget is not passed by October 1st, state support for the free lunch program and other key educational resources will remain in jeopardy. Mr. Blake Bannon offers a teacher’s perspective and expresses frustration with the state of the budget, stating that schools may face “cuts in services, reduced staff, cuts in the universal school lunch program, and less money to spend on per-pupil educational resources.” He added, “I am very upset with all of our politicians over this. This should be one of the top priorities that the state government should look after and care about.”
Senator Darrin Cammilleri, who is Chairman of the PreK-12 School Aid Budget, told the Purple Pulse, “I’ve been ready since day one to come to the table and negotiate in good faith to pass an education budget that puts students and educators first. Unfortunately, the House has put forth an irresponsible proposal that not only ends the free breakfast and lunch program but also takes $2 billion from the school aid fund and puts it towards other projects. I believe we should be investing more, not less, into our schools, and I am staying committed to working together with the House to get a budget to the Governor’s desk that fully invests in our children.”
As the deadline looms closer, Michigan students, parents, and educators are left waiting. The outcome of these negotiations will determine the level of funding for classrooms across the state, and exactly how much our leaders are willing to invest in our students.
