The president of a teachers union local became the latest school union official in Michigan to complain about school funding.

Mark Hackbarth, a teacher who is also the president of the Midland City Education Association, made his claim recently in the Midland Daily News, and his remarks don’t stand up to scrutiny.

Hackbarth, who earned $96,544 in the 2017-18 school year, recently submitted a letter to the editor. He wrote, “The actual reason why many school districts have budgetary issues is due to the fact that the state has not adequately funded schools over the past 12 years. For example, the Midland Public School’s foundation allowance is about the same as it was for the 2005-06 school year.”

Yet financial data from Midland Public Schools, where Hackbarth teaches, dispute his claims.

Midland Public Schools’ per-student foundation allowance was $8,297 in 2005-06 and increased to $8,531 in 2018-19. The foundation allowance for each district in the state, based on a complex formula, is money that follows students to whatever district they attend.

The foundation allowance is not the only money that flows into school district budgets each year. But proponents of higher spending on schools often cite just the foundation allowance when they argue that schools are not adequately funded.

When all state dollars are considered, funding for Midland schools increased significantly from 2005-06.

The district’s enrollment decreased by 19 percent from 2005-06 (9,533) to 2017-18 (7,687), yet its support in total state dollars (not including local and federal) increased from $48.6 million to $54.1 million.

When inflation is factored in, total state support increased from $6,332 per pupil to $7,040 per pupil over the 12-year period that Hackbarth says schools in Michigan have been underfunded.

By citing just the foundation allowance, Hackbarth ignored millions of dollars his district received last year that it didn’t get in 2005-06.

For example, the district received $512,711 for at-risk students and $114,030 for an early literacy program in 2017-18. Money for those purposes was not offered in 2005-06.

Also, the district received $6.7 million from the state in 2017-18 to help pay for its employees’ pension costs, something the state didn’t offer in 2005-06.

Hackbarth didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

Since Michigan’s right-to-work law went into effect in 2013, growing numbers of public employees have exercised their right to opt out of paying union dues and fees, according to data compiled by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

In June 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court established right-to-work for public employees across the nation, holding in Janus v. AFSCME that compelling these workers to pay union fees violates their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association.

Some of Michigan’s government unions have seen the number of fee-paying employees fall 10 percent since right-to-work went into effect. Others, including the Michigan State Employees Association (MSEA) and the SEIU Local 517M, have seen declines of 20 percent or more. The number of workers paying fees to MSEA fell by 345, from 3,079 to 2,734. SEIU Local 517M decreased by 782 individuals, going from 3,532 to 2,750. Before right-to-work, 96 percent of Michigan’s public sector workforce paid fees to a union; that figure stands at 76 percent today.

Some larger public sector unions, such as UAW Local 6000, have seen a significant decrease in dues-paying employees in the workplaces they have organized. That union had 15,673 members in 2013, representing 91 percent of the covered workforce. The number of individuals paying dues and fees dropped to 13,785 five years later, or 82 percent of the workers covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreements.

Michigan’s right-to-work law did not apply to public safety jobs, so police and fire unions have not seen a decline in membership. The Michigan State Police Troopers Association even saw an increase in the number of public safety workers paying union dues, which before right-to-work were optional, going from 1,374 to 1,702 members in a five-year span. Today, 99 percent of employees who are covered by its collective bargaining agreement are paying dues, up from 94 percent.

Unlike Michigan's 2013 right-to-law, the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus ruling does apply to public safety workers, however, meaning they no longer have to pay union fees. Given that Janus has been in effect for less than a year, it is unclear how public safety unions will fare going forward.

Tony Daunt, executive director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, said that decline in the number of fee-paying public sector employees covered by Michigan’s right-to-work law demonstrates that unions do not always operate in the best interest of workers.

“Right-to-work is a fundamental and necessary protection of our First Amendment freedoms of speech and association,” Daunt said. “Nobody should be forced to join, fund or otherwise support an organization against their will.”

Looking beyond the effects of right-to-work laws on the public sector, Daunt said that they have led to “robust growth and economic opportunity” in the private sector, which compelling workers to pay fees to unions had inhibited.

“Despite the loud and cynical protestations from labor union officials, right-to-work laws are a positive for everyone involved," he said.

Officials from several Michigan unions did not return phone calls or emails.