State Budget Update and Inequities in Enrollment, Completion for Latino Student in Higher Ed.

In an unusual move, the School Aid Budget for the fiscal year that begins on October 1 was sent back to the conference committee after having previously passed on a party line vote. This came after the House Speaker and Minority Leader struck a deal to increase funding for special education services and change language relating to the lowest performing schools.

The compromise School Aid Budget passed the conference committee again. Later Thursday, it was approved by the House and Senate. In the Senate, all Democrats and Republican Senator Tom Barrett voted against the budget.

Despite the compromise struck between leaders in the House of Representatives, the passed budget differs significantly from the budget originally proposed by Governor Whitmer. The passed budget focuses most funding increase on the per-pupil payments to schools, rather than the equitable need-based funding formula that the Governor proposed. And the increase to special education funding is about half of the level proposed by Governor Whitmer.

The School Aid Budget now heads to the Governor’s desk for her consideration.

As tax-exempt, taxpayer-supported entities, U.S. public colleges and universities should advance the public interest by ensuring all U.S. residents – regardless of race or ethnicity – have a legitimate opportunity to earn a college education.

When it comes to enrolling and graduating Latinos, and at a time when the population of Latinos in the U.S. is fast increasing, public colleges and universities in most states are flunking. In nearly every state, Latinos are neither getting their fair share of seats on public campuses nor receiving their fair share of college degrees when compared with state demographics and with their White peers.

In a recent report, Broken Mirrors: Latino Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities, the Education Trust explores the data to see how much work Michigan and other states have to do to increase the population of Latinos with a college degree. This includes enrolling a proportional number of Latinos and ensuring that Latinos are just as likely as their peers to cross the finish line and graduate.

House Education Committee meets today at 9:00 a.m in room 521 of the Anderson House Office Building. Agenda: House Bills 4546 (Kahle, R) – 4547 (Frederick, R) regarding dual enrollment eligibility requirements.

Budgets for the fiscal year that begins on October 1 will be considered by the legislature later today, including:

• HB 4232 – Department of Education
• HB 4236 – Higher Education
• Senate Bill 134 – Community Colleges

• OPINION: Make Financial Aid Process Mandatory and Help Students Along the Way – Mildred Garcia & Ramon S. Torrecilha, Morning Consult
• Legislature OKs school budget, readies $770M bump for roads – Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News
• The Truth About School Discipline in America – Notes from the Backpack, National PTA
• ‘I can do it’: How four Detroit students hope to make it through the formidable first year of college – Lori Higgins, Chalkbeat Detroit