September 3, 2014 (Lansing, MI) – Today, the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) took the Democratic Governors Association and the Mark Schauer for Governor campaign to task for their misleading “Teacher” ad which has begun running throughout the state.
“This ad continues to make the false claim that Governor Snyder dramatically cut state funding for education, when the facts are that K-12 spending has risen in each year of his administration,” said Gary Naeyaert, Executive Director of GLEP. “The reality here is $2 billion better than their fantasy, and someone should provide the Democrats with new batteries for their calculators.”
Noting the teacher depicted in the ad is from Royal Oak, and citing comprehensive data from MiKidsFirst.com, GLEP asserted that state and local funding for Royal Oak Public Schools actually increased by $227 per student from FY 2012-2014. Further, with a base foundation grant of $8,688 per pupil in FY 2015, Royal Oak ranks in the top 3% of funding for all public school districts in the state.
“Even the Detroit Free Press, hardly a cheerleader for the Governor on education issues, published data just yesterday from the Department of Technology, Management and Budget to support the assertion that state funding for K-12 education is $1.1 billion higher in FY 2015 than it was in FY 2011, Naeyaert concluded.
A partial list of those that have repudiated this false campaign narrative includes the Detroit Free Press; Associated Press; FactCheck.org; State Superintendent Mike Flanagan; the Senate Fiscal Agency; The Center for Michigan; and Matt Gillard (former Democratic State Representative and Chairman of the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee).
MiKidsFirst.com, hosted by GLEP, includes details on the state and local funding for over 800 traditional and charter public school districts for FY 2012, 2013, and 2014. GLEP is a vocal advocate to end the nearly $1,000 per-pupil funding equity gap for basic operational expenses.
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