Education Policy in Michigan

2280 Words5 Pages

An outdated education system is the largest problem Michigan faces because it affects not only the present, but also the future of the state. Important issues cannot be solved, nor policies created to remedy them, if the people attempting to solve them are not equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to make informed decisions. The state cannot run itself, let alone the nation as a whole, if its’ people are uneducated. The Constitution, the very basis of our government, relies heavily on the assumption that citizens of the United States are able to make knowledgeable and well-reasoned decisions, the types of which cannot be made when a person does not receive a proper education. This proper education is unattainable when low educational funding occurs. Lowering educational funding leads to lower standardized test scores, lack of resources, and an overall poorer education (Roy 2003). Even with these results educational funding has consistently been put upon the chopping block at all levels of government. Governor Rick Snyder’s budget cuts $470 per pupil for the 2012 fiscal year, while promising only small incentives to be added when re-balancing the budget in 2013 (Resmovits 2012). Snyder’s cuts in education stand in sharp contrast to the budget and policy passed in 1994, by then Governor John Engler. Engler, along with the House and Senate, created Proposal A. This policy increased funding to all levels of education, reduced the large funding gap between poorer and richer school districts, and opened schools of choice. Proposal A was largely effective in its’ objectives, but was unable to maintain the projected budget needed to maintain efficiency due to the recession, and Michigan laws requiring education cuts when school ...

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...: The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment , 2003.

Hoffman, Kathy Barks. "Rick Snyder presents $45 billion budget; cuts to education, personal tax exemptions." Oakland Press, February 17, 2011: 1-3.

—. "Cuts to education hurt Gov. Jennifer Granholm's education legacy." The Associated Press, Decemeber 8, 2010.

Lockwood, Andrew. School Finance Reform in Michigan Proposal A: Retrospective. Lansing: Michigan Department of Treasury, 2002.

Mackenzie, John. "Public School Funding and Performance." University of Delaware Academic Findings, 2003: 1-11.

Resmovits, Joy. "As Michigan Primary Nears, Mitt Romney, Gov. Rick Snyder Praise Budget -- Despite Education Cuts ." Huffington Post, February 23, 2012.

Roy, Joydeep. "Impact of School Finance Reform on Resource Equalization and Academic Performace: Evidence from Michigan." Mitpress Journels, 2003: 1-31.

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