COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The poorer school districts in Michigan are in line for a bigger increase from the state in per pupil foundation funding for the 2016 fiscal year while richer districts won’t get as much. That’s the gist of the budget work in Lansing in committee agreements on Tuesday and the nearly $14 billion School Aid bill is expected to be passed in the legislature without many changes.
The starting points for the foundation allowance hikes acted on yesterday were between $70 and $140 per student. The Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of the numbers for K-12 schools in Branch County indicates funding hikes ranging from $52 in Union City to $160 dollars in Bronson. The Coldwater bump is pegged at $102 per student while in Quincy, it’s $73.
It’s a complicated formula and some local school officials will argue the net boost in some cases will calculate to as little as a third as what the state says is being passed along. The bottom line also includes changes in at-risk funding and best practice funding per pupil.
