Let's clear the air on the "surplus"...it's not a surplus!

An editorial that appeared in the Detroit News on June 20 was well written and made some very good points about one time budgeting gimmicks and temptations the legislature is debating to solve the ever looming budget crisis. However, I think there’s one error that needs to be corrected. The editorial stated that the School Aid Fund has a “surplus” of dollars and that it’s legitimate to use that “surplus” to pay off the General Fund because it has historically subsidized School Aid.

Now that the dust has settled (for the most part) and Gov. Granholm has signed SB 1227, let's take a more thorough look at Public Act (PA) 75 of 2010.

 As of 11:00AM, the legislative schedule for committees had no posting for the Conference Committee on SB 1227. Conference committee meetings must be publicly posted at least six hours before their schedule meeting time, so it's pretty unlikely (however, not impossible) that a committee meeting will take place today. 

 Recently, President Barack Obama released what his administration is calling a “Blueprint for reform” to detail the direction he would like the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA or NCLB) to go. As expected, this outline reflects many of the major tenets of Race to the Top (RTTT) and looks to improve upon the perceived imperfections of No Child Left Behind. Throughout the document, language to describe, among other topics, turnaround schools, accountability, assessment and professional development seems to be mirror text from that of the RTTT publications and requirements. The administration is calling this blueprint, “[A] plan to renovate a flawed law…[and] an outline for a re-envisioned federal role in education,” and will be working with Congress to push through these legislative changes.

The following is an informal synopsis of the hearing that took place on Tuesday, March 02, 2010.

 House Education Committee continues to take testimony on school funding. Is the message being heard?

 Last night, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm delivered her 8^th and final State of the State address. Although the main focus of this speech was jobs and economic diversification, she did touch on the importance of education in the new Michigan economy.

 WE HAVE A DEAL...maybe. According to sources inside the Capitol a deal has been reached on Race to the Top. There's potential for votes in both chambers today, so we may have a holiday break after all. Negotiations continued long after the Capitol emptied out. Read on for the tentative details.

 It looks like we're in for a long night in Lansing as we prepare for negotiations on Race to the Top. Read on for details.