MEA Votes

By passing a $165 per pupil cut to public education late last night, legislators seemed to disregard the 77 percent of voters who said to not cut schools -- not to mention the thousands of public school supporters who contacted legislators over the past few weeks urging them to invest in our children's futures.

Granted, the deficit our leaders faced was immense -- and the cut did shrink from its original $218 per pupil level, thanks in large part to the outreach made by those dedicated school employees, parents, students, school administrators, business leaders and others who believe in the value of public education.

But how do we FIX this problem? We’ve tried to cut our way out of this budget crisis for a decade now to no avail -- and next year sounds even worse than what we've just been through.

In a press statement last night, MEA President Iris K. Salters summed up the whole situation quite well...

“The lesson of the past two weeks is that we have a chronic budget problem -- and cuts aren’t making it go away. After a decade of budget shortfalls and cuts, more shortfalls and more cuts, we still lack the necessary resources to invest in our state and our future. Next year, we face the potential of an even bigger hole in the budget -- one that cannot be filled with cuts alone.

“Our leaders in Lansing have less than a year to address our antiquated tax structure and build a new one that helps Michigan face the challenges of a 21st century economy. The simple fact is that we need tax reform that leads to stable, predictable and sufficient revenue to pay for the services we all want -- sturdy roads and bridges, police and fire protection, clean air and water, health care and especially, world class public schools for our students.

“We have to take a hard look at how we’re investing our state’s money. Can we afford to spend money on tax incentives that don’t bring long-term economic growth to Michigan? Can we afford tax-free luxury items or tax loopholes that don’t serve the common good? Can we afford the massive tax breaks that many claimed would bring economic prosperity -- prosperity that obviously hasn’t reached the homes of millions of Michigan citizens?

“It’s time to invest in our state. It’s time to invest in our schools. MEA is proud to have been part of leading that charge during this budget debate and we’re proud to commit today to continuing that fight because of our solemn belief that the key to our economic future is preparing our students for the jobs Michigan needs.”

Clearly though, it's up to all of us as Michigan citizens to keep the pressure on. Because now that the deadline has passed and the drama concluded, it's going to be too easy for lawmakers to kick back and wait to deal with the crisis until next September (or October) again. We need real solutions to our budget woes...and we need them now!