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2008 Policy Book
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We believe all Michigan children should have an equal opportunity for quality education. Education at all levels must meet the constantly changing needs of society. We support legislation that would:
- Create a tax credit for up to half the tuition cost of higher education.
- Require state foundation grant aid reimbursement be determined by June 1 of each year.
- Fund special education programs for teacher training, children with special needs and gifted children.
- Fully fund state mandated programs whether new or amended. Funding for state mandated programs should not decrease the basic pupil grant for other Michigan students.
- Eliminate teacher tenure.
- Ensure the per pupil foundation funding grant follows the student to the public school of their choice.
- Require state school aid funding to reflect current year enrollment.
- Allow parents who choose to send their K-12 student to a private school or home school to receive a State of Michigan tax credit that shall equal the cost of tuition up to 50 percent of the foundation grant per student per year.
We further support:
- Charter schools and home schooling.
- Local school boards should have the responsibility to establish policies such as starting and ending dates, classroom hours, number of days in a school year, personnel management, student discipline, use of local facilities/resources and elections.
- The concept of the Michigan core curriculum and encourage agricultural-based examples to accomplish the guidelines.
We encourage the Legislature to review the foundation funding grant for education. We support aid, limited to the rate of inflation, to districts operating under caps. School districts must exercise fiscal responsibility and look for efficiencies that will maximize the use of financial resources.
