School Funding Myths

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="044005a0exvipq.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC33" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eastside Republican Club"><U><B>Home</B></U></A><B>  </B><B> </B></FONT><B>  | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" ><B>Eastside Republican Club</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="erc_meeting_dates.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U><B>Events</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="eastside_republican_review_summary.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ERC Review"><U><B>ERC Review</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="michigan_s_13th_district.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congressional District News"><U><B>Congressional District News</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="civic___governmental_links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="erc_officers.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B>About Us</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>School Funding Myths</B></div> <div> <A HREF="link_to_michigan_gop.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michigan Republicans"><U><B><IMG SRC="05358580.gif" border=0 width="88" height="88" ALT="Michigan GOP" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="michigan_s_13th_district.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congressional District News"><U><I><B>Congressional District News</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="east_lansing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michigan GOP Convention 2010"><U><I><B>2010 Republican Convention</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="erc_testimonials.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What Theyre Saying About Us"><U><I><B>Read what they've said about us</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="erc_meeting_dates.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U><B><IMG SRC="81b871f0.gif" border=0 width="135" height="31" ALT=">>Events" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div>  <A NAME="top_of_page"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <I><U>Spotlight on School Funding</U></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="1ab506a40.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="420" ALT="Michael Van Beek, Mackinac Center director of education policy" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="8" VSPACE="6"></FONT></div> <div> <B>Common Myths of Public School Funding</B></div> <div> <B>Addressed by Mackinac Education Director</B></div> <div> Hitting head-on a number of Michigan public school funding myths, Michael Van Beek of the <A HREF="http://www.mackinac.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mackinac.org/"><U>Mackinac Center for Public Policy</U></A> helped cut through the statistical debate at the January 18, 2011, Eastside Republican Club Forum.</div> <div> Van Beek is director of education policy for the Midland-based, non-profit research and educational institute dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan citizens by promoting sound solutions to state and local policy questions.</div> <div> The Center aims to accomplish this mission by assisting policy makers, scholars, business people, the media and the public by providing objective analysis of Michigan issues.</div> <div> He explained to his Grosse Pointe War Memorial audience, “A myth includes at least a kernel of truth and is different from a lie, the purpose of which is to deceive.” He pulled back the curtain of confusion for seven misconceptions he labeled as “myths.”</div> <div> <I><B>Common Myths</B></I></div> <div> Myth number one, he said, was the “School Foundation Allowance Myth.” He explained that the Legislature's “allowance” is not a grant, but only one part of the formula used to determine the state's actual per student grant amount. For 2009-2010, the average Michigan grant amounted to $5,730 per pupil.</div> <div> Van Beek, author of the Center's latest study on the subject, said the bigger picture is this truth: the state grant represents only one portion of a district's revenue. For example, during the same period actual revenues from all sources for all purposes averaged $13, 074 per pupil -- significantly higher than the state grant amount.</div> <div> The second myth, according to Van Beek, was the “School Employee Concession Myth.” The truth, he said, involves a misunderstanding of the word “savings.” Despite the Michigan Education Association claim that school employees have “saved” taxpayers millions in salary concessions and health insurance reductions, there is more to the story.</div> <div> Van Beek said that because total payments for employee salaries and health insurance actually stayed level during recent years, “Any 'savings' could only be interpreted as reflecting how much more we could have paid!”</div> <div> “Michigan's teachers are the nation's highest-paid when compared to state wealth, he said.<IMG SRC="1ab86c840.jpg" border=0 width="364" height="388" ALT="Michael Van Beek, center, with outgoing chairman, John Chouidard, left, and director George R. McMullen, Jr." ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="8" VSPACE="6"></div> <div> <I><B>Underfunded, Unstable, Unequal Revenues</B></I></div> <div> Using facts, he cut through three other common misconceptions debunking the idea that Michigan public schools are underfunded, subject to unstable funding, or suffer unequal funding.</div> <div> He said, “School expenditures have nearly quadrupled since 1960, and for the past century, funding has moved in one steady direction - up!” >><A HREF="http://www.mackinac.org/SchoolMyths" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mackinac.org/SchoolMyths"><U><I>Check out the study on line</I></U></A>.</div> <div> <I><B>Lottery Revenues</B></I></div> <div> Focusing his analytical spotlight on facts, he confronted the “Sales Tax and Lottery Myth.” Van Beek said, “Over the last 15 years, the portion of total school revenues from the state sales tax and the state-run lottery has steadily decreased. In 1995, they contributed 32% and 5%, respectively.”</div> <div> “In 2010, the lottery contributed less than 4% of what schools got, while sales tax made up the largest chunk at 22%,” he said.</div> <div> <I><B>Student/Teacher Ratios</B></I></div> <div> The final area of Van Beek's analysis was the “Class Size Myth.”</div> <div> “Most people believe that smaller class sizes are better, but it matters more who is the teacher at the front of the class,” he said.</div> <div> He noted that while class-size has been declining steadily both in Michigan and nationwide for decades, there has been no corresponding improvement in outcomes. >><A HREF="http://www.mackinac.org/10361" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mackinac.org/10361"><U><I>A revealing look at Michigan public school district databases, hosted by the Mackinac Center</I></U></A><I>.</I></div> <div> Van Beek, who joined the Mackinac Center two years ago, oversees the Center's education research and publications, including Michigan Education Digest and Michigan Education Report.</div> <div> <I><B>Van Beek's Background in Education</B></I></div> <div> For four years prior to working at the Center, Van Beek taught political philosophy, government, economics and history at North Hills Classical Academy, a private primary and secondary school in Grand Rapids. He also served the Academy as an assistant administrator for one year, assisting with budgeting, curriculum, and teacher-administrator relationships.</div> <div> Van Beek earned his Master of Arts from Purdue University, where he also held teaching assistantships. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hope College where he was twice honored as the top student in the history department.</div> <div> As a senior, Van Beek was voted captain of the Hope College varsity baseball team, and was later selected the league's most valuable player by baseball coaches of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.</div> <div> Currently, Van Beek lives in Midland, Mich., with his wife, son and daughter.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="School Funding Myths"><U>back to top</U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>