FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2026
CONTACT: Adam Bitely
(202) 689-9266
abitely@bellwetherpr.com
Legislature, Governor Have One Week Left to
Fund Michigan’s Schools
LANSING, Mich. — With less than one week remaining until the July 1 statutory budget deadline, the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity (MASO) is calling on the Legislature and Governor to stay at the table and finish the School Aid budget now, and to finish it right.
“Michigan’s school leaders are watching Lansing closely this week,” said Peter Spadafore, Executive Director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. “Superintendents, principals, and school boards have done their part. District leaders have passed local budgets, made staffing decisions, and made commitments to their communities. The state needs to meet them with the same resolve. We are not asking for anything new. The framework is there. The revenue is there. What we need now is the will to get it done.”
The priorities for a responsible School Aid budget are well established: an inflationary increase to the foundation allowance, weighted funding for students who need additional support, stabilization mechanisms for districts facing enrollment decline, school safety and mental health funding that actually reaches every school, and a guarantee that dollars dedicated to K-12 education stay in K-12 education.
Last year’s prolonged budget delay forced school districts across Michigan to make consequential decisions without knowing what the state would provide. That uncertainty has real costs for our kids. A repeat of that situation is not acceptable.
Michigan law requires school districts to complete their budgets this month. State law requires the Legislature and the Governor to do the same.
Michigan lawmakers are considering two uniquely bad choices at once: cutting revenue dedicated to schools and shifting even more School Aid dollars to universities. Each decision alone would be reckless; together, they create a structural hole that future legislators will spend years trying to dig out of. Michigan’s 1.4 million public school students cannot afford either. The Legislature should reject both approaches and pass a School Aid budget that keeps school dollars in schools.
“Cutting school revenue and shifting School Aid dollars to universities aren’t just bad policy choices, they’re decisions that will haunt Michigan classrooms for years to come,” Spadafore said. “Future lawmakers will inherit this mess, and students will feel it long before then. We’re asking the Legislature to reject both bad choices and do right by Michigan’s kids.”
The time to finish this is now. MASO urges every legislator to stay in Lansing, stay at the table, and send Michigan’s schools a budget they can count on.
# # #
The Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity works to build an equitable foundation for education, where every student in Michigan, regardless of circumstance, is equipped to succeed after graduation. Learn more at mialliance.com