LANSING – School districts across the state planned their budgets on a minimum $83 per student increase, and those receiving only $50 are now asking the governor and legislature to restore that minimum increase.

The officials said the $50 increase is essentially a $10 cut because, while the state put more money into the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System, school contributions to that system still increased by $60 per student.

And they said money already in the budget could be shifted to cover the increased foundation grant. There was not, though, support for the move from the targets of the effort.

Proponents of the increase were trying to get as many officials as possible from the 128 districts receiving the $50 increase to sign a letter asking the Legislature to return during the summer and revisit the education budget.

“This budget came as a big surprise for school districts because it was dramatically different from what the governor and the Legislature had proposed earlier,” Dan Behm, superintendent of Forest Hills Schools and chair of the Michigan Association of School Administrators Legislative Committee, said at a press conference announcing the request.

Yvonne Caamal Canul, superintendent of Lansing School District, said the district’s fiscal year began Tuesday, so many had their budgets essentially completed when the final version of the state budget was released.

“Many of us now have to go back to our districts and make further cuts,” she said. “We are doing our part. … The Legislature has rewarded us by making stability impossible and growth a pipe dream.”

Michael Wendorf, president of the Dexter Community Schools board, said even at the $83 increase, his district had to cut $1.4 million to meet increasing costs. The final budget increased that year-over-year deficit to $1.6 million.

Behm said providing the additional $33 per student would cost the state about $20 million. The budget as adopted, he said, includes $100 million set aside to cover retirement incentives provided in 2010, money that would not be spent until 2020.

Behm and others said they would still like to see the state adopt the budget proposal school officials made earlier in the year (See Gongwer Michigan Report, February 27, 2014), but he acknowledged that was not realistic at this point in the budget process.

But the budget already provided $175 extra per student for most school districts, Dave Murray, spokesperson for Governor Rick Snyder, said.

“He signed a budget that increases the state’s investment in education at all levels because he believes a solid education system is an essential part of Michigan’s economic comeback,” Mr. Murray said.

As to the assertion that districts planned on $83 per student that was in prior versions, Murray said it was the Legislature’s prerogative to change the budget until final passage.

“In the past, districts would have started the first three months of the school year without knowing how much money they would have,” he said.

FUNDING INCREASE: The Great Lakes Education Project, meanwhile, launched a new website, MiKidsFirst.com, that the group says shows that funding has increased $1 billion since 2012.

The site also shows a number of districts receiving more money per student than they did in 2012.

“Despite numerous false claims from partisan advocates about draconian cuts to public education, this unvarnished and comprehensive data proves, beyond any doubt, that Michigan’s investment in education has risen,” Gary Naeyaert, executive director of GLEP, said in a statement. “Since passage of Proposal A in 1994, we’ve shifted from funding districts to funding students, and while challenges remain, there is no doubt that K-12 education funding has increased.”

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