DEARBORN – Standing alongside parents, teachers and school officials, State Representative George T. Darany (D-Dearborn) today called on Governor Snyder and legislative Republicans to restore the devastating budget cuts to Michigan’s schools and protect the state’s School Aid Fund from unnecessary raids in the future.

“It is not too late for legislative Republicans to undo this terrible wrong,” Darany said. “Until our children take their seats this fall there is still time for leadership in the House and Senate to come back to the table, sit down with me and my colleagues, and find a solution that prevents increased class sizes, and layoffs of teachers, administrators and support staff. We have to work together to accomplish what we all want: our children’s education to be a top priority.”

The budget that the legislative Republicans and Governor Snyder pushed through a budget that raided hundreds of millions of dollars from the School Aid Fund to subsidize an 82 percent tax break for corporations, resulting in a $470 per-pupil cut. Considering that the School Aid Fund had a $900 million surplus, the severe cuts were completely unnecessary. As school districts finalize their budgets for the upcoming year, we are beginning to see what impact these cuts, the largest in two decades, will have on the classrooms and the quality of our children’s education.

The state budget cost Dearborn Public Schools $8.3 million in funding, according to the nonpartisan House and Senate Fiscal Agencies. According to the Dearborn Patch, these cuts have forced Dearborn to consider a budget that:

  • Lays off 48 teachers with the possibility of additional layoffs;

  • Jeopardizes bilingual education and at-risk students with the loss of categorical funding;

  • Increases class sizes; and

  • Causes special education staffing re-alignments and reductions in contracted services.

Darany encourage residents to visit www.fightschoolcuts.com and sign a petition to help rally in support of our kids, as well as tell their stories about how these education cuts will impact their children and their local schools.