Harper Woods Community Schools

10/21/09

Dear Parents, Community Members and Staff,

I am writing to update you on school funding decisions enacted in Lansing that are directly, and negatively, impacting our schools and how the tax dollars of our citizens are being allocated. On Monday, the Governor signed the school aid bill for this year. Two major components of this bill are of major concern: (1) all school districts will have funding reduced by $165 per student and (2) The City of Harper Woods School District will have funding cut by an additional $323 per student as a result of a line item veto.

The first of these issues, the $165 cut, will represent approximately 2% of our budget, which was adopted on June 30^th, 2009. Now, with the fiscal year one quarter over, we are being told our funding will be reduced by over $200,000.

The second of these issues, the additional $323 cut is particularly concerning. This a significant cut. It represents an additional 4% of our budget (over $400,000) and this cut is NOT being imposed on the majority of districts across the state. In fact, this cut is being imposed on only a few districts (39 of over 500 districts), under what is formally called “20J” funding. Most importantly, our cut is the highest of any district in the state on a per student basis. 20J funding was adopted as part of Proposal A. As Proposal A was implemented, schools in communities such as Harper Woods that have traditionally strongly supported their schools, were designated 20J, or “hold harmless” districts. The “hold harmless” designation meant that their funding would not decline as a result of the adoption of Proposal A. Now, that promise, like the Michigan Merit Scholarship Promise, is being broken at the expense of our schools and our students.

Together, these cuts represent over $600,000 of budgeted revenues intended to support educational opportunities for our students. These cuts come at a time when our families and our state are expecting more of our schools. District staff accepts that challenge and responsibility. However, the failure of the legislature to appropriately fund education makes meeting this responsibility difficult. I encourage parents, community members, staff, and their friends and family members, to make their views on this important issue known to our state lawmakers.

Our message needs to be, in my opinion, very direct: (1) balance reductions in funding fairly by restoring 20J funding and (2) eliminate school funding reductions by identifying revenue sources that will enable our schools to be of the highest quality.

Please contact our legislative leaders (see below) and let them know how important educational funding is and of the need to appropriately fund our schools.

Sincerely,

Todd Biederwolf

Superintendent, Harper Woods Schools

Potential Contacts

(You may have to push “control” as you active the site….)

Governor Granholm

www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html

Speaker of the House

Michigan House of Representatives

Andy Dillon

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909