LANSING – Following the governor’s rollout of his fiscal year 2012-13 budget, members of the House Appropriations School Aid Subcommittee received a more in-depth briefing of just how the money would be spent, including a change to the awarding of best practice funds.

According to a House Fiscal Agency analysis, the performance-based funding component totals $70 million and the awards would be up to $100 per pupil if the districts meet the academic achievement goals. They include proficiency growth in mathematics and reading for grades three to eight and proficiency growth in all areas for high school students.

For the criteria for grades three though eight, schools would receive $30 each per pupil, based on a growth model the department determines based on the new Michigan Educational Assessment Program cut scores. For the high school criteria, schools would receive $40 per pupil, based on a metric that looks at a positive 4-year trend ending with the current fiscal year.

Schools could also receive a piece of $120 million awarded for best practices. Districts would have to meet five of the six criteria to receive the funding: participate in schools of choice programs; monitor students’ growth twice annually and report the information to parents; offer dual enrollment; offer online learning opportunities; have districts be the policy holder for health care services benefits; and create a dashboard.

Overall, best practice and performance-based grants were increased in the proposed budget by $36 million over the current year.

In 2012-13, intermediate school districts would receive 95 percent of the funds received in the current fiscal year, but will have to meet four out of five best practices in order to receive the remaining five percent.

For ISDs, those practices are enter into an agreement with the Department of Education to develop a service consolidation plan, obtain competitive bids on at least one non-instructional service valued at more than $50,000, develop a technology plan in accordance with the department, work in a consortium to develop information management system requirements and create a dashboard.

ISDs could also share in another $10 million proposed as one-time funds for consolidation innovation.

Another new program, at a cost of $1.75 million, would provide grants for districts for training programs for building principals and assistant principals to learn how to implement educator evaluation programs.

The Michigan Virtual University maintains its total appropriations from the current year, but in the next fiscal year it will be entirely paid for out of the general fund. Right now the federal government picks up the tab for $2.7 million.

The Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System would receive an additional $24 million, but the budget also takes the one-time funding of $155 million from the current fiscal year and rolls it into the base as an ongoing expense. Doing so would reimburse schools districts about 2 percent of their MPSERS payroll.

Total funding for the per-pupil foundation allowance is $8.7 billion. No changes were made overall, but adjustments for certain districts, including Wayne-Westland, Gibraltar, Garden City and Huron, are eliminated.

Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods) took issue with the presentation by the State Budget Office for showing the history of the foundation allowance that began with the current fiscal year.

The chart showed that the minimum payment would remain unchanged through FY 2013-14 at $6,846.

Lipton said it would be more accurate to describe what has happened to the foundation allowance this year as failing to restore the massive cuts from 2010-11 when the allowance was $7,316.

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