To: Members of the Michigan House of Representatives and Michigan Senate
Governor Whitmer
From: Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators
Michigan Association of School Boards
Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals
Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity
Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators
Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association
K-12 Alliance of Michigan
School Equity
Date: September 29, 2025
RE: SCHOOL AID FUND BUDGET AND ROAD FUNDING PROPOSAL TRANSPARENCY
As Michigan’s superintendents, school leaders, educators, and school board members, we demand immediate clarity from the Legislature and Governor on both the road funding agreement and the School Aid budget. Nearly three months after missing the July 1 legal deadline — and just two days before a potential shutdown — our schools still do not know what resources we will have to serve students this year. Your inability to pass a timely budget leaves school districts once again bearing the costs of Lansing’s delay. Many districts have already been forced to waste taxpayer dollars on short-term loans and delay critical staffing and program decisions – this is unacceptable.
One of the few confirmed details of the framework is deeply troubling: a $750 million raid on the School Aid Fund to pay for roads, with no specific plan to backfill those dollars. Michigan’s public schools should not be asked to underwrite other priorities, yet any deal or budget that reduces School Aid Fund revenue will be seen as taking money from students to pay for roads. Politicians have promised before that the School Aid Fund would be “made whole,” and too often those promises were broken. This has resulted in decades of raids that have left lasting harm — “death by a thousand cuts.”
We urge you to:
At a minimum, Lansing must be transparent, end the uncertainty, and not finalize a budget in the dead of night. We implore you not to vote on a final School Aid Budget or road funding deal until you have reviewed the entire budget and these questions are answered. Michigan families, educators, and taxpayers deserve honesty and accountability.