LANSING (WKZO-AM) — Representatives with Kalamazoo Public Schools say they hope the Senate is more generous than the House with funding for public schools.
The House passed budget bills last week. The Senate will review those bills and vote this week.
Gary Start, the assistant superintendent of finance for KPS, said, if the House proposal stands, the district would only get about $109 more per student. He claims that wouldn’t cover inflation.
Lawmakers were bragging about contributing a record amount of funding to education as they passed the budget for schools last week. Start said Lansing must be counting the money its sinking into the pensions, because it’s not making it to the classroom.
He said years of funding has hurt smaller school districts like Albion, which eventually ran out of resources. He said districts like Albion’s can’t cut their budgets fast enough to keep up with declining enrollments, which continue to drop as they are forced to make even deeper cuts.
Start said the district will be turning up the heat to try and get the Senate to improve upon what the House approved last week.
