School Funding in Michigan

I have heard great wailing and gnashing of teeth over expected cuts to education for next year.

"House Republicans approved a $13.8 billion education budget that slices a minimum of $430 per student in K-12 districts..."

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/michigan_house_approves_massiv.html

That sounds like a lot. So, I did some research.

I live in a small town. Here are the per student funding levels I could find for my school:

Year Per pupil funding
93-94 $4,323.29
94-95 $4,566
95-96 $4,834
96-97 $5,101
97-98 $5,363
98-99 $5,363
99-00 $5,700
00-01 $6,000
01-02 $6,500
02-03 $6,700
03-04 $6,700
04-05 $6,700
05-06 $6,875
06-07 $7,085
07-08
08-09 $7,316
09-10 $7,162
10-11 $7,162

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Departments/DepartmentPublications/FoundationHistory94to07.pdf

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/07/modest_hike_in_school_aid_fund.html

I also see some conflicting data from the first story from mlive: "Snyder's original budget called for a $470-per-pupil cut. The current minimum foundation grant is currently $7,316. The Senate reduced the cut to $340. The impact on districts losing students will be greater as the House bill also eliminates a $20 million fund to compensate for declining enrollment."

If that last quote is accurate, the $7,162 never made it to finality. This seems to indicate the current funding level remained at $7,316.

Anyway, let's assume worst case scenario of $7,162 and a $430 cut. That takes us down to $6,732.

Dear God NO!!!! Say it isn't so!!

Many people I know have taken a 10% pay cut. That would have been $6,585 per pupil.

In 2009 I took an 18% hit in compensation from the company I worked for. If schools had done the same thing, they would have been brought back to funding at $6,000 per pupil.

In addition to the 18% compensation cut I experienced, employees had been subjected to pay freezes for 3-4 years before that. If school pay had been frozen 4 years before and had an 18% decrease as well, funding would be at almost $5,500 per pupil.



At the $6,732 per pupil funding levels, let's assume a better (although I can't say optimal, due to my lack of research on optimal class sizes) class size of 20 students. That is $134,640 worth of funding per class per year.

Given an average total cost of teacher total compensation (salary/benefits) of $83,415 (FY 2008 estimate), that should leave $51,225 for all other school costs for those students.

That doesn't include extra money the school receives for meal programs, millages, students with special needs, and any grants.

If you would really like to convince me that there is a funding issue, could you help me understand where that $51,000+ per class of 20 students per year goes and why it is insufficient. And, better yet, since most classes are 25 students, explain where the $84,885 goes and why it is insufficient.

Aloha.