State senator targets Michigan school districts with flush rainy day funds

[deminks]

Lansing — Michigan school districts have amassed $1.6 billion in "rainy day funds" while complaining about too little state aid, records show.

As a result, one state senator wants to recapture $282 million of those surplus funds to help balance the state budget.

"For people to be holding that much in reserve, especially with everything that's going on in our economy today, is obscene," said Sen. Jack Brandenburg, R-Harrison Township.

Brandenburg, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said he will introduce a bill to cap rainy day funds at 15 percent of a school district's annual operating expenditures. The more than 300 districts with surpluses bigger than that would have to spend their excess savings before receiving another dime from taxpayers, he said.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110310/SCHOOLS/103100405/State-senator-targets-Michigan-school-districts-with-flush-rainy-day-funds#ixzz1GIyfpz8I

[sinkingfeeling]

1. And how much cash are the corporations based in Michigan holding?

[Dappleganger]

2. What, redistribute the wealth?

Say it isn't so!

[Freethinker65]

3. Many of the districts with surpluses are conservative areas

When I was growing up in one of these wealthy conservative areas, our district even levied additional taxes to support our public school district to keep it strong. While some students from the area did attend private pricey schools, a majority went to the public schools. I doubt citizens of these areas would want a government, even a GOP led government, to dictate how and when the districts spend their rainy day funds.

Seems like Brandenburg's real agenda is to bankrupt all districts, then hand them over to for-profits. Once again, he doesn't give a damn about the "taxpayers". Why am I not surprised?

[deminks]

4. kick for the afternoon

[LiberalFighter]

5. Someone needs to provide details that are on a school district by school district

instead of lumping all school districts in one total.