“The state is broke and isn’t interested in sharing.”

Back in the fall of 2005, I heard an otherwise eloquent speaker on governmental finances, a rather informed man from the nonprofit Citizens Research Council of Michigan, make this simple, blunt declaration at a meeting in Grand Blanc.

I’ve thought of this quote every school board or governmental meeting I’ve attended since, when officials worry about cutting programs or laying off teachers in the face of declining state revenues.

And if a story I heard Tuesday on Michigan Public Radio is correct, the outlook isn’t getting much better.

The state could cut student funding to public schools by as much as $100 (other sources say the cuts could be as high as $125) per pupil for this school year. The cuts are, effectively, retroactive, meaning the state will decrease the amount of funds schools had been expecting, or hoping, to receive.

No public school in Michigan is immune to the effects of the cuts, and most are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.

Goodrich school district pink-slipped 39 teachers in 2005 (all were eventually called back to work) to stave off pending state cuts and increase its fund balance to what some people have said borders on an obscene level, about 21 percent of the district’s annual budget.

I won’t even mention the Flint school district, which is hemorrhaging funds faster than a bachelor party in Vegas.

Atherton schools on Monday pink-slipped three teachers. What is particularly disappointing about that case is that Supt. Mark Madden was relieved that the district only had to let three teachers go. In a district as small as Atherton, hopefully that will not increase class sizes too much.

I’m not disparaging Madden, who seems to be a good guy and straight talker by the way, I’m just pointing out that this philosophy has become endemic in Michigan schools: be thankful for the small cuts, because the big cuts could be just around the state legislature’s lips.

While, as a red-blooded American male who watches football, I would never crib lines from singer Whitney Houston (much less admit I even know who Whitney Houston is), one of her messages bears repeating: “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and the let them lead the way.”

Voters appropriately turned down a statewide proposal last November that would have set an annual minimum funding amount for public education. While the proposed legislation was great in its intent, it was poorly conceived and didn’t specify a funding source.

It was expected that the state would fund the education base and regular increases from the general fund, which the state doesn’t have much of, especially since the Single Business Tax is set to expire at the end of this year and the court jesters in Lansing have yet to come up with a replacement for the $2 billion the state will lose annually after the tax expires.

Our lawmakers need to stop the petty party bickering, get back to work and find a solution to funding our schools. Otherwise we can change or state motto, as reader Chris Balog so appropriately put it, to: “Come to Michigan, our taxes are low and our children are stupid.” That should attract a lot of businesses.

On the brighter side, I also heard on Michigan Public Radio that a group of Michigan State University students are working on a plan to solve the state’s budget crises.
Perhaps there is hope for the future of Michigan.

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