Estimated at $470 per pupil
LANSING -- Shared sacrifices from everyone, from senior citizens to state workers, public schools to city halls.
That's what Governor Rick Snyder has planned for the 2012 state budget. But education might, once again, sacrifice more than it can handle.
"As we say, we're cutting into the bone, into the programs now. All the tools that we have, we have to look at what programs are important to us, that we need to sustain for our students and maintain those programs," says Negaunee Public Schools Superintendent Jim Derocher.
Negaunee schools, for example, are looking at a potential loss of about $430,000 next year. And it's not just K-12 that could see cuts. Snyder's budget says the 15 public universities will each cut 15 percent of their state appropriations.
At Michigan Tech, that's a loss of $7.2 million. For Northern Michigan, it's $6.7 million.
"It is not a one-time reduction. This is a permanent base reduction, and so anything that we do is really a multi-year adjustment," explains NMU President Les Wong.
Snyder's proposal also includes the following cuts:
- State employees expect to be asked for concessions totaling $180 million
- One state prison could close this fall
- Prisons are expected to privatize food service
- State police posts could be cut
- $2.3 million will be taken from libraries
- Elimination of the state income tax exemption for pensions
- Elimination of the Michigan business tax to be replaced with a flat six percent (6%) corporate tax on major corporations
Snyder's budget will now go before the House and the Senate for approval.
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