EWEN -- There's been a lot of confusion recently about the newly enacted law giving more powers to emergency financial managers in Michigan.  Some critics are calling it a state takeover of local government, while others say it's anti-union.

The new law doesn't directly eliminate collective bargaining rights statewide for government workers; what it does do is give emergency financial managers in certain communities the right to cut collective bargaining if they see fit.

So are there any communities here in the U.P. who could ask for an emergency financial manager to step in?  Ewen-Trout Creek Schools very well could.  Superintendent James Rayner says there's no more meat to scrape off his already bare bones school budget.  He's actually relieved that Governor Snyder has made changes that allow a state appointed official to take over the district's finances.

"This person would be deciding how big the class sizes would get, would we blend classes; which programs would we keep, which programs would we not keep, would we cut sports?" said Rayner.

Essentially replace the superintendent, which the already retired Rayner is okay with.  Ewen-Trout Creek may soon meet one of the bill's 18 trigger points that would allow them to ask for a state appointed emergency financial manager.  With a deficit near $600,000, the district may not be able to come up with the money for its Deficit Emergency Elimination Plan.

Rayner insists Snyder's new bill is a reasonable alternative to bankruptcy, which Governor Snyder says is the whole reason he put the bill into place to begin with.

"If schools go into bankruptcy, collective bargaining agreements are gone, so in this respect the demise of collective bargaining agreements is no different in this legislation than it would be under bankruptcy," Rayner said.

But the MEA office in Negaunee strongly disagrees.  Director Stu Skauge says there's no more to cut, and the state should be providing more revenue.

"It's not a spending problem," said Skauge.  "The spending problem is gone, and schools are cut to the bone.  What we have now is a revenue problem; we need to be able to bring additional revenue into the school districts so we can properly educate the kids."

Ewen-Trout Creek Schools has to meet their deficit elimination plan by June.  If not, they have to notify the state, which will evaluate the district under the trigger points and most likely provide the district with an emergency financial manager.  

But the Ewen-Trout Creek district is not alone; according to public records, there are several other U.P. districts that could potentially qualify for an emergency financial manager.