School Superintendent Gets Raises And Funding Hikes, Complains Funding 'Broken'
Her districts’ inflation-adjusted increases range from 8.4 percent to 12.7 percent
Newaygo County public school official Lori Tubbergen Clark recently wrote a commentary for Bridge Magazine, saying that Michigan's approach to funding education was "broken."
“Under Michigan’s broken school funding approach, our kids will only continue falling behind,” wrote Clark, who is the superintendent of the county Regional Education Service Agency. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to educating our kids, and it’s time for a new, fairer approach that recognizes every child is a winner.”
There are three regular school districts that serve more than 1,000 students within Clark’s intermediate school district: Grant Public Schools, Fremont Public Schools and Newaygo Public Schools. Even after adjusting for inflation, all three have seen significant state funding growth from 2011-12 to 2018-19.
In the 2011-12 school year, Grant Public Schools received the per-pupil equivalent of $7,892 in 2018 dollars, when adjusted for inflation. By 2018-19 this had risen to $8,557 per student, an 8.4% increase, or $665 more for every student.
Newaygo Public Schools’ inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding increased from $6,691 to $7,388 over that seven-year span. That $697 more per student represent a real 10.4% funding increase.
Fremont Public Schools’ per-pupil funding increased from $7,197 to $8,112 over that seven-year period. That’s a real gain of 12.7%, or $915 more per pupil after adjusting for inflation.
And Clark has personally benefitted from the rise of school funding over several years. In 2013-14, her total salary was $149,357. Over the next four years, annual increases brought her gross salary to $151,426; $154,098; $171,231;and $157,283, respectively. The salary figures are what the county education agency reported to the Office of Retirement Services. In addition to being eligible for a Michigan school pension, Clark benefited from a $26,069 contribution her employer made to her annuity in 2018.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
Enjoying CapCon?
Make sure you aren’t missing anything! Sign up for our daily or weekly emails and get the quarterly print edition mailed to your home. All free!
Growing Michigan Together Council says more education spending will draw people to state
Michigan’s school funding amendment is a harmful relic
Whitmer claims historic investment in student mental health resources
The Michigan Budget Fight Is Not Over Roads – It’s Everything Else
Budgets should be in line with lawmakers' priorities
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican lawmakers are at a budget impasse. Most of the focus has been on transportation spending; the governor wants a massive fuel tax increase while lawmakers do not. But the heart of the fight is over other budget issues.
The governor’s budget increases spending by $1.5 billion, with most of that coming from a fuel tax increase of 45 cents per gallon. The House and Senate budgets increase state spending by $468 million and $731 million, respectively. All three budgets would authorize more money than the state is spending in the current fiscal year, drawing on increased tax revenue from economic growth.
All three increase funding for roads. For 2019-20, the governor proposes a transportation budget that includes $4.38 billion in state funds while the House calls for spending $4.01 billion and the Senate, $3.73 billion. All of this is much higher than the $3.64 billion being spent this year and, indeed, any of these numbers would be a record high for the state.
The governor’s budget spends $370 million more on roads than the House budget. But her proposal uses a $2.5 billion tax increase (over two years) to do so, while the House budget doesn’t increase taxes at all.
So where does the rest of the new revenue go? Whitmer proposes to dramatically increase state spending across the board, with the two largest increases being $523 million more for schools and $446 million for health and human services, especially Medicaid. The House and Senate budgets increase spending in these areas as well, but more modestly.
Lawmakers should propose budgets in line with their priorities. But citizens should not be under the illusion that a massive gas increase — putting Michigan right near the top of the national list for the highest fuel taxes — is needed for road repairs. This tax increase allows for lots of money to be diverted away from roads and to other spending priorities. The budget fight, then, is about whether to raise taxes more than it is about whether to spend more on roads.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
Follow us on social media!
Push back on big government “solutions” by becominga fan of us on Facebook and X. Plus you can share free-market news to your network!
Facebook
I already follow CapCon!
More From CapCon