By Craig Mauger, MediaNews Group
Michigan’s new budget will channel $203 million toward increasing the compensation of public school employees, a move supporters are hailing as a win for the state’s teachers.
The Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate approved the new annual funding proposal for state operations early Friday morning. It is expected to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the coming days.
Embedded within one of the bills was a provision to repurpose $203 million that had been previously allocated to provide financial assistance to educators who were repaying student loans, but which had gone unused.
Now, the dollars will be given to schools “to increase compensation” for employees and the pay bumps must be on top of “any existing compensation negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement” between a school district and union representing educators or support staff, according to the budget blueprint.
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said the $225 million student loan forgiveness program, authorized in 2023, didn’t work as he intended and he wanted the dollars to now be used for financial relief for school employees who are facing rising health care costs.
“It was important to put more money back in the pockets of our educators,” Camilleri said.
In addition to teachers, the new initiative will benefit a wide array of school employees covered by union contracts, including librarians, counselors, social workers, custodians, bus drivers and literacy coaches, according to the bill.
Camilleri, a former teacher and the top Senate Democrat on the K-12 budget, said it will be up to districts and local unions to negotiate how the money will be handed out.
There will likely be one-time payments to staff at some point this school year, Camilleri said.
Somewhere around 381,000 people work for K-12 schools in Michigan, according to state data. It’s not clear how many of them would qualify for the new compensation. If they all did, which is not likely, and everyone got the same amount, an individual would receive $532.
“It should be a good one-time bonus,” Camilleri said.
The Michigan Education Association, which represents school staff in many districts across the state, touted the $203 million allocation in a statement on the budget Friday.
“Most critically, it provides $200 million in funding to directly put money in the paychecks of public school employees — whose pay increases are being consumed by skyrocketing out-of-pocket health insurance costs,” said Chandra Madafferi, president and CEO of the state’s largest teacher union.
