Michigan's School Finance Plans

David Eggert:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's educational ideas are hitting roadblocks as lawmakers start working on how to spend the state's money in the next budget year.

The Democratic governor's proposals for making daylong kindergarten mandatory, offering two years of free community college tuition to laid-off workers and setting up smaller high schools all could face trouble in the Republican-led Senate, and some face changes in the Democratic-led House.

The reasons for the disagreements range from the practical to the ideological.

Some lawmakers are leery of spending as much as Gran-holm has proposed because of the economic uncertainty the state faces.

Granholm's budget plan would raise spending by 2.9 percent, to $44.8 billion, in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

But the Senate now says the increase should be smaller because revenues may be less than expected.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 25, 2008 8:58 AM
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