By now you have all heard about the cut of "20j" monies that Governor Granholm cut with her veto yesterday. The 20j funds are monies given to districts whose per-pupil finance amount was greater than the State's allotment when school financing switched from local millages to Proposal A. In Walled Lake that is $4.7 MILLION dollars.
I have heard very little from the MEA since then. I did get an email from their MEA PAC chairperson who stated that this move by the governor demonstrated that school finance needed to be revamped. I received a call from Kerry Birmingham, the "press secretary" for the MEA, in the afternoon asking if I would speak to a reporter from the Free Press. Kerry told me that the MEA's message is that school finance needs to be reformed. She told me that the MEA is not bashing the Governor. In fact, I read that the Governor held a news conference in the afternoon yesterday with MEA lobbyists standing around her.
Still, I have heard very little from the MEA. Perhaps they are trying to determine which avenue to go; but I think there is something else going on, and that was potentially confirmed with newspaper reporting this morning. I believe Governor Granholm is trying to pressure the Legislature to add revenue to the state picture. She is not asking for a straight tax increase, but there are several measures she has suggested that would help plug the holes in the state finances. Senator Bishop (Republican) has sworn that taxes will not be raised and warned Governor Granhom not to veto anything else. However, further cuts are looming for education as the sales tax revenues continue to drop.
I feel like Governor Granholm and Senator Bishop are playing the old game of "chicken" with schools like Walled Lake right smack dab in the middle of the road. I can only suggest that you write Governor Granhom and that you write Senator Bishop. Write your own representatives in State government. (Remember, PLEASE DO IT FROM YOUR HOME EMAIL ACCOUNTS!)
Contact:
Senator Michael Bishop, Senate Majority Leader
SenMBishop@michigan.gov
517-373-2417
Senator Nancy Cassis - Senator for the northern part of our school district
SenNCassis@senate.michigan.gov
517-373-1758
Representative Hugh Crawford, Legislator from Novi and represents parts of Walled Lake
hughCrawford@house.mi.gov
517-373-0827
Governor Granholm - Follow this link:
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html
Iris Salters, President of the MEA
isalters@mea.org
MEA
About Me
- Tfitzjake
- I wrote this introduction 6 years ago, and it is even more important today than ever. The voices of educational employees need to be heard above the roar of public school attacks in this country. We are on the front line; we are highly educated and trained professionals. Why are we being ignored? I am an educator. I was the president of the Walled Lake Education Association for over 6 years, and before that, the treasurer for 8 years. I have been on the bargaining team for 15 years. I am now the MEA UniServ Director for 7K and parts of IJ. I want our voice to be heard! Today's educational climate requires that we all stay informed regarding the issues affecting our chosen profession!