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, House Democratic Floor Leader Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills) issued the following statement:
“My objection to Senate Bill 574 is that it lacks the proper transparency and oversight that will assure voters that the funds directed to it from special enhancement millages will end up in our kids’ classrooms rather than in the bonus checks of wealthy CEOs of for-profit education management organizations who run charter schools. That’s why I offered an amendment tying SB 574 to the School FACT Act — a set of bills that would set standards of accountability, ethics and transparency for EMOs and charter school authorizers — but House Republicans failed to support my amendment. We all want to make sure our kids are getting a great education, no matter where we choose to send our kids to school — but sadly, the accountability for charter schools is lacking. SB 574 fails to put safeguards in place that would ensure these dollars would be properly used, so I couldn’t support it.”