University of Michigan ISSE

Teachers, students, parents and workers must act now to oppose the cuts to public education agreed to by Michigan lawmakers.

Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm on October 19 signed into law cuts in public school outlays that will reduce per-student funding by $165. She then used her veto power to cut an additional $54 million from school districts throughout the state.

More cuts are to come. In signing the bill, Granholm said that a $100 million shortfall in the state’s education fund remained, and this can only grow as sales tax revenues continue to decline. By all indications, another drastic cut to funding will be imposed within a matter of weeks, bringing the total per-pupil cut to $300 or more.

The impact on the education of young people is incalculable. The reductions will translate into immediate layoffs, cuts to school services, and increased class sizes.

“Non-essential” education for high school students will be gutted—music, physical education, sports, art and history. There will be fewer textbooks and computers. Overworked and underpaid teachers will be unable to provide the same level of instruction. Bus routes will be cut. Schools will be shut down.

An overwhelming majority of the state’s population opposes these cuts. But this opposition finds no expression in the political establishment—neither in Lansing, nor in Washington.