While MEA is glad to see lawmakers included a "hold harmless" provision for the School Aid Fund in proposed income tax legislation
HB 4001, that doesn't solve the long-term problems caused by eliminating a major revenue stream for our state to proide essential services to its citizens. Police and fire. Children's health care. Safe roads and water. These are all things that the state needs to pay for to ensure students - and everyone who calls Michigan home - have the quality of life we need to have a thriving state. Incrementally rolling back the income tax over the next four decades creates a 40-yr path to the bottom of a very deep budget hole.
Both community colleges and universities would likely see funding cuts due to an income tax phase out. And eventually the lack of state revenue would cause cuts to K-12 schools when the money simply isn't there anymore to hold them harmless.
That's why MEA is joining many other groups in asking our members to call and email state representatives and ask them to vote NO on HB 4001. Leaders in the House are pushing for a vote quickly on this legislation, perhaps as early as today. Voters deserve to know now from lawmakers what they intend to cut in order to balance the budget - not a reverse IOU where a small tax cut costs midle class and working families the public services they need to keep their families safe, healthy, educated, and happy.
"From the end of 2012 to early 2016, Kansas' GDP grew at less than half the national rate. Cuts in state revenue forced K-12 schools to close early and led to funding reductions for universities. To balance the budget, Kansas Gov Sam Brownback siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from state highway funds. Moody's twice downgraded the state's bond rating. As of November, Kansas was still laboring to close a $345 million budget hole."
MEA OPPOSES PROVISIONS IN COMMON CORE BILL
A bill to repeal the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Michigan also would allow parents to opt their students out of anay school activity - including classroom tests and assignments - among a number of poorly-designed provisions in the proposal. No educator voices were included in discussions of what should replace the CCSS under a repeal.
House Bill 4192, proposed by Rep. Gary Glenn (R-Midland) would adopt Massachusetts state standards from 2009 - before that state opted to switch to the Common Core. Michigan school districts would be allowed to vary from the standards, based on local school board decisions about curricula, yet educators would still be held accountable for student performance on standardized state assessments - which would change to tests used by Massachusetts prior to 2010.
At a House committee hearing last week, speakers noted that the higher performance of Massachusetts students on standardized tests could be related to the fact that that state spends $1 billion more on educating approximately 3 million fewer students than Michigan.
MEA opposes making rushed changes to standards after educators have spent countless hours working on implementation, and more than $250 million has been spent on materials and training related to the CCSS, a set of rigorous expectations adopted by more than 40 states in recent years.
HB 4192 would not allow further changes to the standards for five years. Under the bill, school districts could adopt curricula that differ from the standards. Districts would be required to develop a curriculum plan by grade level and make it available for public review and comment. "This is a complex issue that imposes changes to standards which do not carefully address the needs of Michigan's students and educators," MEA Lobbyist David Michelson said.
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