Within minutes of being unveiled last week, House Republicans passed a budget proposal that would cut $5 billion from public education – a loss of almost 25% compared to the current year.

According to House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp), the bill is meant to keep essential services going during a potential state government shutdown – but Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) noted that, “We haven’t seen a government shutdown in a long time, and there’s no good reason why he should be predicting one now unless he wants it to happen.”

“This is bad politics. This is bad policy. This is going to hurt our kids,” said state Rep. Regina Weiss, an Oak Park Democrat and former teacher in The Detroit News. “And if this is some kind of negotiating, art-of-the-deal kind of tactic, it is dangerous and we don’t need this **** in Michigan.”

Stay tuned to MEA.org/legislation for further developments on next year’s education budget, including the Senate’s funding proposal.