(Editor's note: A correction has been made to this story to reflect the correct reduction in education spending voted by the state Senate. The Senate agreed to education spending cuts of $340 per pupil, compared to the $470 in per-pupil cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder.)

The GOP-controlled state Senate gave public schools back more than one-quarter of Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed cuts for K-12 education when it passed Senate Bill 183 on Wednesday.

Seven Republicans voted against the bill, creating a 19-19 tie. The bill only passed when Lt. Gov. Brian Calley voted as the tiebreaker.

Snyder had recommended a $300 per-pupil cut and did not rescind another $170 per-pupil cut that was put into place in 2010 but was temporarily replaced by federal stimulus money. The Senate vote adopted only the $170 per-pupil cut from 2010 and an additional $170 per-pupil cut — $130 less in per-pupil reductions than Gov. Snyder had proposed.

The House is still working on its own version of this budget, which so far appears much closer to what Gov. Snyder has proposed.

Republican Sens. Jack Brandenburg, Mike Green, Goeff Hansen, Dave Hildenbrand, Rick Jones, Mike Nofs and Tony Rocca all voted against passing the bill.

Sen. Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said he didn’t like the Senate’s bill because it treated all K-12 schools the same way.

“There are better ways to reform education,” Jones said. “We could have a statewide teacher pay scale. A lot of reforms like that could be done instead of making these deep cuts.”

Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said one statewide pay scale would be impractical due to the disparity in pay around the state. For example, a teacher with four years of experience and a bachelor’s degree in Eau Claire makes $32,886 while the same teacher would make $48,490 in Birmingham.

State Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, said he thinks the House will keep the full $470 per-pupil cuts Gov. Snyder proposed and the issue will be resolved in conference committee when a final bill is created.

“We aren’t addressing the issue of the cost of education in Michigan if we just continue to fund it as it is,” Agema said. “If we continue to pay for the teachers pay and benefits, we are never going to get out of this.”

Brandenburg, Green, Hansen, Nofs and Rocca didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

Hildenbrand released a statement that read: “I commend the Senate Appropriations committee for their work on SB 183, the 2012 K-12 school aid budget over the last couple of months. The Senate floor vote is one step in a long budget process, and the bill is literally a work in progress. I look forward to continuing to work on this budget as it moves through the legislative process to ensure we have the best product for our students, teachers, and taxpayers. “

Hartland Consolidated Schools has negotiated into its union contract a clause stating teachers will have to “give back” salary if the school’s funding drops.

Under Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed school plan, Hartland’s per-pupil funding would go from $7,426 this year to $6,956 in 2011-12. That would be a 6 percent cut and would translate to a 3.6 percent reduction in salary for teachers. But those teachers would still be eligible for automatic yearly raises of 5 percent if they had under 11 years of service.

“The automatic give-back or concession is unique for a teachers’ union contract in Michigan and is beneficial for many reasons,” wrote Michael Van Beek, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s education policy director. “The most important benefit is that it enables Hartland to reduce employee costs when necessary without having to renegotiate a brand new contract, a process that unions generally delay as long as possible, especially when it’s likely to be concessionary.”

Hartland has taken some steps to reduce its costs beyond teachers’ salaries.

Five years ago, the school privatized its custodians and has saved a total of about $4 million, according to Superintendent Janet Sifferman.

But there are other areas where the district will see increasing expenses in teachers’ salaries and health care costs.

The teachers’ contract also calls for yearly automatic raises of 5 percent for teachers with 11 years or less experience.

Sifferman said those “step increases” are “very hard” to negotiate out of contracts.

“In fairness to the teachers, in other industries, there are other ways of working your way up the ladder, different job opportunities — you don’t have those opportunities in teaching,” she said.

The district also pays for 100 percent of the teachers’ health care premiums.

Sifferman said the health care cost for the district is $5.5 million a year, compared to $28 million for payroll.

Van Beek said districts can’t afford to pass up any opportunity for cost-sharing with employees.

“Nibbling around the edges isn’t going to get districts where they need to be financially,” Van Beek wrote in an email. “They can squeeze a lot of savings out of consolidating, streamlining and contracting out services, but until they deal with rising labor costs, districts aren’t going to be able to get their fiscal houses in order.”