Editorial

Nothing More Certain Than Taxes and School Officials Wanting More of Them

Education funding keeps increasing, schools still want more

In a discussion about public school funding in the statewide news site MLive, Ann Arbor Public Schools board treasurer Harmony Mitchell made this comment: “If you would just take half of what you’re giving to corrections and fund schooling, you wouldn’t have to fund corrections in the first place. I think the priorities are somehow messed up here.”

ForTheRecord says: The state budgeted $2.0 billion for corrections in the 2016-17 fiscal year, so Mitchell’s suggestion comes to an additional $1.0 billion in school funding.

From 2012-13 through the current school year, the amount of state tax dollars allocated to public education in Michigan rose from $11.2 billion to $12.3 billion. That was a $1.1 billion increase. There is still crime in Michigan, and the public school establishment is still asking for more tax dollars.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.