LANSING — The House passed Senate Bill 574 today, which will allow charter schools to siphon off regional school millage dollars approved by voters. In response, state Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township) issued the following statement:
“SB 574 is the clearest example to date of the profit motive that has taken hold of education in the state of Michigan. I voted against this bill because it takes money away from traditional public schools and gives it to mostly for-profit charter and cyber schools, even when just days ago, a study was released showing that we need to spend thousands of dollars more per student to properly educate them. I attempted to amend this bill in committee to ensure that charter schools do not use this money to increase profits, but that amendment was defeated. Public schools in my district are some of the hardest hit by this bill, with our students losing out on $1.4 million to companies that try to profit off their education. The voters who supported these millages meant for every dollar to go to the classroom, and because their intent was betrayed, I could not support SB 574.”