State Legislators Visit the School Board to Talk Budget Cuts

The Ferndale Board of Education was joined by Ferndale's legislative voices at its meeting last week to discuss Gov. Rick  Snyder's proposed budget cuts.

Ferndale's state senator,  Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield), and Democratic state Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton discussed the Snyder cuts and told Ferndale residents how to get involved and “get engaged” to make sure all voices are being heard.

“What is happening right now is unprecedented, since the passage of Proposal A,” said Lipton, speaking about Snyder's budget.

Proposal A, passed in 1994, was meant to lower the need for local millage assessments to fund education. The proposal also increased the state shared revenue for K-12, which guaranteed minimum per-student funding. This boosted funding for poorer districts and narrowed the spending gap between the districts. As a result, the school aid fund currently is running a surplus.

"(Snyder) is showing us death and telling us to be happy with a coma," said Ferndale Schools Superintendent Gary Meier.

Meier said with Proposal A there should be no talk of messing with the school aid fund. "(The) state is forcing us into a conversation about cuts," he said. "The state, based on Proposal A, should be leaving school aid fund alone."

"Unprecedented" and "unnecessary" are just some of the words many parents and  district representatives used to describe Snyder's proposal of taking away money from the school aid fund that is supposed to be protected by the minimum per-student guidelines of Proposal A. The move, Lipton said, is “unacceptable” and is “nothing short of a robbing of the school aid fund.”

Lipton reminded the audience that in these stages of planning, all talks are still just proposals — but she encouraged residents to take the time to contact their representatives to express their concerns about any proposed cuts because that is the only way they will know what Michigan residents want.

“Most of my district pretty much believes the same thing I do and that is these cuts have been extreme and we need to do something besides cut,” said Gregory.

What originally started as a $470 cut per student, Gregory said there has been discussion of lowering that number to a $290 cut per student. It's a cut Gregory said is still too high, as he explained any cut over $170 would devastate a lot of school districts.

“It will change but the question becomes how much, is $290 really that much of a difference than $470," he said.

According to Gregory, the fact that there has been discussion of lowering that cut is good news though and a sign that voices are being heard.

“(I) just want to let everyone know who thinks it doesn’t matter, it does make a difference," he said. "If you don’t stand up people will never move from the position that they are.”