MichiganRadio

Paying For Public Education LANSING, MI (Associated Press) - Michigan changed the way it pays for public education in 1994, switching from local property taxes to a mix of sales and property taxes, lottery revenue and other money.

Now, with cuts of nearly $300 per student looming and some districts looking at losing as much as $600 per student, think tanks, business groups and education advocates want to look again at the way Michigan pays for public schools.

The cuts would have been even worse if the state didn't have $450 million in federal stimulus money to draw on, saving schools from another $280-per-student decrease.

The budget hole will be worse next year, when the state will have less federal stimulus money. That has a variety of groups looking at ways to change how schools are funded.
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