MichiganRadio

House Votes For More Education Money LANSING, MI (MPRN) -

The state House has voted to dig deeper into its bank of federal stimulus money to try and avert big cuts to schools before the end of the year.

Governor Granholm has warned superintendants that schools will lose almost 300 dollars per student if the Legislature does not come up with more money.

But the stimulus funds were being saved to help schools get past a budget shortfall next year. Democratic Representative Terry Brown chairs the House schools budget subcommittee. He says plugging the hole in this year's budget will give schools time to plan.

"School districts, I think, if we can get the money to come this year, they will appreciate understanding where they are set for next year. Even if it's a larger hole, they need to do planning for that hole," says Brown, "Where we are this year is schools don't know how much they have, so this will actually help them prepare for next year."

The measure now goes to the state Senate, where the idea is getting a cool reception.

"The stimulus dollars aren't going to be around forever," says Republican Majority Leader Mike Bishop, "and it they try to plug that hole using these phantom dollars, their putting themselves in a bigger hole next year. We've got to figure out how to resolve this funding gap better than just short-term fixes."

Bishop says he'd prefer to focus on finding a long-term solution to stabilizing school funding. © Copyright 2012, MPRN