Saturday, March 27, 2010

Spring Break 2010: Legislature Leaves Schools in Limbo As They Take Another Vacation

Vacation all I ever wanted...

Lawmakers started a two-week spring break Friday. They leave Lansing with no consensus on how to erase a projected $1.7 billion deficit in the budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

Most lawmakers appear to be against Granholm's proposal to raise more than $500 million by extending a slightly lower sales tax to services that are not now taxed. Granholm's proposal to save money through a retirement incentive package has stalled. Many lawmakers are reluctant to vote for spending cuts, especially to education and public safety programs.

They won't vote for revenue. They won't vote for cuts. Sound familiar? Same pattern as last year, but with the added pressure of an election looming this time around. They blew past a deadline to pass a school/state employee retirement package, jamming up school districts who are making personnel decisions and struggling to cope with last year's cuts, let alone look at the cuts that the Republicans are proposing on the next budget that Dillon will eventually vote for... and Governor Granholm might as well go ahead and set-up a Margarita IV drip to get through the rest of this year.

"I can't wave a magic wand," Granholm told the Michigan Public Radio Network. "I cannot push the vote button for these legislators. They have one constitutional responsibility… they don't want to do the tough things, and everything I'm asking them to do is tough because there is no easy way out. We cannot get this done unless we take some really hard steps, and it's hard for them to do in an election year. So the question is, for them, you can say ‘no’ to reforms and ‘no’ to cuts and ‘no’ to revenues, but you continue to say that and we’ve come up against a budget deadline, and it means another shutdown, and that happens one month before a general election in November.

So the question for them is: Do they want to see another shutdown of government a month before they are on the ballot, in which case I think the citizens would be justified in saying that ‘you don’t deserve to be returned to Lansing’, or, do you want to get the tough votes done and then go back to your district and explain to people that this is very difficult and we are trying to reshape Michigan’s government, Michigan’s tax structure, and Michigan’s economy to move into the 21st century."

And it’s not only what she said, it’s how she said it, and you really need to hear it to appreciate the urgency of the situation. Unfortunately for the Governor, as Speaker Dillon recently whined to an audience, she needs to hold their hand, cut their meat, read them a bedtime story, and be there to kiss all their owies for them when they fall down and go boom! and scrap their knees. It seems that neither the Speaker, nor anyone else in the House, can take any responsibility for their actions, or show any initiative when it comes to protecting the public schools. Pity them.

"The governor never built relationships (with legislators)," Dillon said. "That's why it's difficult for her to get votes when she needs them."

So that's why Dillon passed a Republican all-cuts budget last year. Basically he is admitting that he, as Speaker, cannot get the job done. He has zero power to move legislators to vote for what is best for Michigan, and he will not stand up for what should be standard Democratic values. School funding used to be a standard Republican value as well, before they all went crazy Galt on us over the past decade or so. No help there - and that is the reason why the voters gave the Democrats such an overwhelming majority in the House the past two election cycles.

Sorry folks, but this is a no-brainer. If you can't decide whether or not you are going to invest in a future for Michigan's children, if you can't decide whether or not you are going to push school districts into bankruptcy, if you can't decide that a quality education is worth fighting for, and especially if you drag this whole thing out in some sorry-ass attempt to try and save your own jobs while you put other people's lives on hold... you deserve to be voted out of office. This is cowardice, plain and simple.

The following links are "This Week in K-12 Cuts", the stories keep coming. Hundreds of school employees with their livelihoods on the line. Interesting that some districts are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to retirement...

Onaway: Cutting band, not replacing retiring teachers, cuts to athletics.
Kalkaska and Forest Area: Stimulus saved/created jobs. As that money goes away, those districts are looking at cuts.
Muskegon Area: Looking at privatizing 145 bus drivers in six different districts in the Muskegon area. Concessions saved their jobs last time around, but more cuts need to be made.
East Grand Rapids: Looking at privatization of 19 custodians.
Thornapple Kellogg: Layoffs of teachers, custodians, support staff. Pay-to-play fees will rise, driver's ed privatized.
Rockford: Offering retirement incentives, hoping for 25 or so teachers to bite to help cover a $3.8 million deficit. 110 are eligible.
Northville: Six Northville school employee groups, union and non-union, agree to a 2% wage reduction to save jobs and money in a district facing a $2 million deficit. Transportation will make cuts, reduced budgets for supplies, and layoffs in office, custodial, and elementary media are still planned.
Traverse City: $3 million (!) in wage and benefit cuts, $1.2 million in transportation cuts, $500 thousand comes from increased class sizes and other savings.
Sault Ste. Marie: They haven't decided on what to cut yet, only that "painful budget cuts" are coming, and they are very frustrated because they have cut $23 million in the past seven years while retaining one of the lowest millage rates in the state. They want parents to call Lansing.
Sturgis: $2.5 million deficit, hoping that retirement incentives they are offering will take out 12 teachers. Other cuts on the board: 10% on supplies, eliminate field trips and the DARE program, cuts to athletics, outdoor education, other office cuts. May charge to participate in sports.
Tecumseh: Hoping that 16 teachers will take a district buyout before they have to make layoffs.
Adrian: Has notified 36 teachers of possible layoff due to a $1.7 million deficit. Expects to call most of them back, but they haven't determined how they will balance this budget after that.
Cass City: Is taking a wait-and-see approach on their cuts, realizing these guys are going to jack them around. They've been here before.

Enjoy your vacation, legislators. You might not have the luxury of such generous benefits at your next place of employment.