Michigan’s economic environment is in desperate need of attention. If
there was ever a time for people to get involved to help design a way to
correct our woes, it is now. However, we should not use our children
and their future to solve this dilemma. Now is the time to become a
strong advocate for public education funding.
Last week the State Senate rejected Governor Granholm’s plan to avoid a
catastrophic mid-year cut to school funding. The Senate is currently
developing its own plan. As of March 1st, we have completed
three-quarters of our 2006-2007 school year. In due diligence, we
adopted a balanced budget by July 1, 2006, as is required by law. We
made a commitment to offer certain programs and educational
opportunities for our students and this community. To face an Executive
Order cut at this time in the school year is simply inconceivable. It
is simply too late in the school year to cut staff or programs.
People of Grosse Ile must help us contact our legislators to be part of
the solution. School districts cannot survive without stable funding.
It is unacceptable to say that Michigan’s economic recovery relies on
Education and then cut educational funding…or threaten to do so. The
problem remains the same – a structural deficit year after year. School
districts have no ability to plan, develop or sustain necessary
programming in this kind of environment. This is a situation that must
be remedied. This can only be done by our willingness to be part of the
solution.
It
is time for the legislature to prove that education is a priority.
Revenues are well behind expectations with the School Aid Fund
experiencing a major shortfall again. The State must invest in K-12
education or Michigan will once again break its promise to its most
valuable resource – its children.
Please let your legislators know that we support a quality education for
our children and the resources to meet the rigorous demands required by
the State. We need to fix this funding crisis now and we need to do
it right. We cannot continue to rely on one-time fixes and suffer
repeated threats of pro-rated reductions every year. We expect our
legislators to put the best interest of the State and its children
forward…we expect them to work together and find a fair solution.
Never underestimate our ability to impact what happens in Lansing.
Please take time to write, call or meet with your legislators. It is
too important to all of us.