Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, teachers rally for K-12 funding boost at Capitol
LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rallied with teachers on Tuesday to push for a sizable boost in school spending, saying a “failure” in the Capitol has contributed to worsening educational outcomes for Michigan kids.
The Democrat, who is at odds with Republican legislative leaders over the next state budget, called on educators to help pressure lawmakers to back her education plan.
It would pump $526 million, or 3.5%, more into the K-12 budget, which would be the largest increase in classroom spending in 18 years when retirement costs are not counted. Funding would rise between $203 million and $395 million under House and Senate proposals, or 1.4% and 2.7%. The most recent annual U.S. inflation rate was 1.8%.
The legislative blueprints also do not include her call to shift to a “weighted” formula to account for extra costs to educate certain students.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/18/whitmer-teachers-rally-lansing-michigan/1493021001/
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