School might be out for summer, but it’s not out forever. And when the kiddos return to the pasty-smelling halls this fall, they’ll be benefiting from the largest education budget the state of Michigan has ever passed.
But what’s included?
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Who Gets What….:
- 📚 Students - The new “per pupil” allowance will be $9,150 for every kid in every public school in the entire state. That’s up from $8,700 last school year. This is money that travels with your kid to whichever public school they attend.
- 🧠 Mental Health Services - There is $214 per pupil included for mental health programs. This money will help fund teen centers, district mental health grants, and pay for training for school mental health professionals so they can better serve students.
- 🔧 Pre-School and Trades Programs - The free preschool program “Great Start Readiness” will expand to add 1,300 more kids. Funding for career and technical programs will increase by 27%.
- 🏫 Infrastructure - There’s $250 million included for school fixing and maintaining infrastructure. This money can be used to build schools or refurbish classrooms, labs, and libraries.
- 👨🏫 Teachers - What’s a school without teachers, right? And to combat an ever-growing teacher shortage, this budget includes funding the MI Future Educator Fellowships program, which pays up to $10,000 in tuition for 2,500 future Michigan educators every year and $9,600 stipends a semester for student teachers.
🔥Bottom line: Funding schools might not sound glamorous or exciting - but unless we’re trying to recreate the cult classic movie “Idiocracy”, it’s probably best we invest in education now.
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