Statement from House Democratic Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) on the announcement that public school teachers will eventually be repaid $550 million:

LANSING — Today, an attorney for Gov. Rick Snyder said that public school teachers who didn’t consent to having $550 million taken from their paychecks will get their money back eventually. In response, House Democratic Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) issued the following statement: 

“The Gov. Rick Snyder-Attorney General Bill Schuette administration have treated our teachers like an ATM machine for the state for years and made them fight in the courts to get back the wages that the teachers already earned and are rightfully theirs. Now, before the state Supreme Court, the governor’s attorney says our teachers may get their $550 million in wages back someday, perhaps decades from now. That’s not good enough. Instead of wasting taxpayer money to fight teachers at every level of the state courts, Gov. Snyder should be apologizing profusely to our teachers and repaying what is rightfully theirs today, not 20 years from now.”