The Michigan Department of Education will make its quarterly presentation on the number of school districts in deficit to the state legislature Dec. 12.

But perhaps lost in the discussion about funding is that the state and federal government have budgeted $563 million more dollars for public school K-12 education in Michigan in 2013-14 than last year despite a drop of 6,100 students.

The state's School Aid Budget, which funds K-12 education, increased from $12.9 billion in 2012-13 to $13.4 billion in 2013-14. Federal dollars jumped from $1.701 billion last year to $1.764 billion in 2013-14.

However, student enrollment over the last year in public schools dropped from 1,536,600 students to 1,530,500.

"They are actually getting more money and there are fewer kids in the program," said James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "You can argue they are not getting as much as they want, but you cannot say that taxpayers are spending fewer dollars on K-12 education."

However, many school union officials and others will complain that school funding has been cut and that more money needs to be spent regardless of student enrollment counts or student achievement.

There were a number of districts that didn't submit financial information to the state by Nov. 15, said Glenda Rader, spokeswoman for the Office of State Aid and School Finance. Rader said the final numbers will be ready by the time Superintendent Mike Flanagan makes his quarterly presentation to the Legislature Dec. 12.

Flanagan told the legislature in September that unaudited figures showed there were 56 school districts with deficits.

Legislation to change the way the State of Michigan grades the performance of schools could emerge from the House Education Committee in December.

Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto, chairs the House Education Committee. She also is the sponsor of House Bill 5112, which would create an A-F grading system for schools and would place greater emphasis on student academic growth.

"We've been working on some changes to the legislation," Rep. Lyons said. "We want a system that is transparent. I'm hoping we have something to put forward in committee within three weeks. ... The schools know that we're serious about this."

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy released a study in October that showed that the Michigan Department of Education is using a flawed system to grade (and rank) the performance of schools. According to the study, the MDE's current system, "risks penalizing schools based not on their actual performance, but rather on the portion of low-income students they happen to enroll."

Audrey Spalding, director of education policy with the Mackinac Center, wrote the study. She testified on House Bill 5112 at a committee hearing and said it would be an improvement over the system the state has been using.

"It would be better," Spalding said. "It doubles Michigan's focus on student growth. The current system bases 25 percent of a school's score on student growth. The system outlined in House Bill 5112 would have 25 percent on overall growth and 25 percent on growth of the lowest-performing 30 percent of students."