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Opinion | Michigan’s legislators and governor need to pass a K-12 budget now
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Dear Governor Whitmer, Leader Brinks and Speaker Hall:
We write to you today on behalf of Michigan’s public school district superintendents, administrators and elected school board members across the state with a clear and urgent message: Michigan’s students and schools deserve the certainty of an on-time budget. We need you to come together to finalize funding for K-12 schools now.
It’s critical that you avoid last year’s delays, when a final budget was not passed until the first week of October. The uncertainty surrounding school funding forced districts to make staffing cuts, pause hiring, and alter programming because they did not know what resources they would ultimately have available for their school year.
Missing the July 1 deadline may have been a procedural inconvenience for you, but it was students and staff who paid the price. This cannot happen again.
For the FY 26-27 School Aid Fund budget, MASA and MASB strongly support the weighted funding approach for English Language Learners and At-Risk students included in both the Governor’s Executive Recommendation and the Senate budget. This model is proven. It provides stable, predictable funding, gives districts flexibility to serve students’ needs, and ensures that more dollars flow directly into classrooms. We urge the Legislature to adopt it in the final budget.
We also urge you to fix the rules governing the 31aa school safety and mental health fund. Last year, nearly 75 percent of traditional public school districts opted out of this critical funding because of language that placed unnecessary restrictions on the rights of schools and their employees. That is an unacceptable outcome. We support transparency and state-led investigations in the wake of tragedies like Oxford — but the Senate language strikes the appropriate balance between accountability and the protection of Constitutional rights. We ask you to adopt it.
As you enter into final budget recommendations, it’s important to recognize that Michigan’s schools remain significantly underfunded. We are not even close to the level of investment recommended by the School Finance Research Collaborative. Part of the solution is straightforward: stop diverting money away from the School Aid Fund. We’ve seen proposals for up to $400 million of further diversion this year, bringing the total to $1.7 billion — nearly double what it was just two years ago. Michigan’s superintendents and school board members strongly oppose this diversion. Dollars dedicated to educating Michigan’s children should go to Michigan’s children.
Above all, Michigan needs consistency — consistent policy and consistent, adequate funding. The whipsaw of shifting priorities we have witnessed over the past decade has made it difficult for districts to plan, hire, and invest in their students. Our K-12 system is the foundation for what follows — college, careers, military service, and technical training. When that foundation is underfunded, it undermines success in the next phase.
We are also deeply concerned that discussions around major reforms, including higher education governance restructuring and a proposed property tax overhaul, risk consuming the bandwidth and political capital needed to finalize the budget. These are complex issues that could take months of negotiation. We strongly urge you to get the budget done first. The K-12 budget that districts use to plan their own fiscal years cannot be held hostage to unrelated policy priorities.
The proposed budget positions of the Legislature and the governor are close enough that a timely resolution is well within reach. Michigan’s school leaders are ready to work with you to ensure the state delivers a budget that truly invests in Michigan’s students and schools.
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