Contact your state Representative - Urge Opposition to SB 574

Oct 18, 2017

From AFT of Michigan

"Today, the Michigan Senate voted 23-14 in support of SB 574, which will require funds raised from school enhancement millages to be shared with charter and cyber schools located in the regions that approve the additional taxes.

After transfer to the Michigan House, the bill was referred to the Education Reform committee, where it awaits a hearing.

Contact your state representative now to ask them to oppose SB 574, as it would send dollars raised for public schools to for-profit companies which run charter schools.

Enhancement millages are regional property taxes levied when approved by voters of a community and distributed to local public school districts by intermediate school districts. Currently, there are six regions which levy such millages through ISDs, in the counties of Wayne, Kalamazoo, Kent, Midland, Monroe, and Muskegon. SB 574 would not require these communities to distribute funds already approved by voters to charter schools, however, any future renewals of these tax programs and new regions which approve enhancement millages in the future would be required to split the raised funds with charter schools.

This is problematic because 83 percent of charter schools are run by for-profit corporations with no transparency requirements and which are not accountable to the communities in which they are located.

Public schools are currently underfunded, and it is not right to allow for taxes to be raised to pad corporate profits while public schools are struggling financially."