Michigan spends more on prisons than public education
Michigan 
is one of seven states that increased spending on corrections more than five times as fast as it did on public education over the last three decades.
That’s according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Education.
Overall, across all states in the nation, state and local spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the rate of funding for public education for preschool through 12th grade.
“Budgets reflect our values, and the trends revealed in this analysis are a reflection of our nation’s priorities that should be revisited,” U.S. Education Secretary John B. King said in a news release.
“For far too long, systems in this country have continued to perpetuate inequity. We must choose to make more investments in our children’s future. We need to invest more in prevention than in punishment, to invest more in schools, not prisons.”
Read more here: http://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2016/07/07/michigan-spending-schools-corrections/86795772/
How charter schools in Michigan have hurt traditional public schools, new research finds
How do some charter schools affect the traditional school districts in which they are located? Disastrously in some cases, as a new study about Michigan schools shows.
The study, “Which Districts Get Into Financial Trouble and Why: Michigan’s Story,” finds that among Michigan districts, “80 percent of the explained variation in district fiscal stress is due to changes in districts’ state funding, to enrollment changes including those associated with school choice policies, and to the enrollment of high-cost special education students.” A working paper was released last November and the study will be published in the fall edition of the Journal of Education Finance.
In the following post, Jennifer Berkshire, author of the EduShyster website,interviews the lead author of the study, David Arsen, a professor in the Department of Educational Administration College of Education at Michigan State University about the research and its implications for charter school expansion in other places. He notes in the interview that “overwhelmingly, the biggest financial impact on school districts was the result of declining enrollment and revenue loss, especially where school choice and charters are most prevalent.”
1.6 million students go to schools that employ cops, but no counselors
The US Education Department released a collection of data drawn from 2013-2014 surveys of nearly every single one of the nation’s 95,000 public schools. The results are part of the Civil Rights Data Collection, a survey done every other school year to measure access and equity in the public school system. The data show that 850,000 high school students didn’t have access to a school counselor. Meanwhile, 1.6 million (K-12th grade) students attended a school that employed a law enforcement officer but no counselor.
Read the full article here: http://theinfluence.org/1-6-million-students-go-to-schools-that-employ-cops-but-no-guidance-counselors/
Are enough state education dollars really getting to your children? Some say vendors & special interests benefit most
LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) – The state is planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on the Education Budget next year, compared to this year, but is the money going to your child’s classroom? Critics say not enough is.
Related: New report suggests Michigan’s students are getting short changed in school funding
The state announced it would increase per pupil spending by between $60 and $120, depending on the district.
A report on the budget says that local revenue for schools is increasing due to increasing property values, helping to make this possible. The state also is putting new spending towards schools, the “net increase totals $ 23.3 million.”
There is also more than $30 million in new spending on line item projects.
Critics say these numbers show that vendors and special interests are getting more new investments than kids directly.
They also say that while some of the line item projects are valuable, too many of them are pork.
“There’s no transparency about why or how that pork got put in the budget. They just got put in there,” said Rep. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores).
Roberts says one example is an on-line algebra tool your tax dollars are paying $1.5 million for.
Read and watch the investigative report here: http://www.wxyz.com/news/critics-voice-funding-concerns-in-state-education-budget
…until next time, keep reading, sharing, discussing, learning.
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