On Wednesday, June 11, House Republicans introduced – and then swiftly passed – an education budget for 2025-26 that harms students’ opportunities to get the education and skills they need to land good-paying careers after graduation. This budget guts programs and services that students and families rely on, including:

• Career and technical courses that prepare students for good paying jobs ($62 million cut)
• Free school meals so hungry kids can focus on learning and families have one less thing to worry about in the morning ($200 million cut)
• Targeted support for transportation and other unique needs faced by rural schools ($137 million cut)
• Programs that recruit and retain excellent educators for every student in classroom across Michigan ($125 million cut)
• Mental health and school safety resources that help students and educators face the unique challenges of today’s world ($259 million cut)

These irresponsible cuts make it impossible to ensure every student gets a great public education, no matter where they live.

In addition, after decades of preaching fiscal responsibility when it comes to school employee retirement, the House Republican budget violates current laws and slashes $1.2 billion from the state’s commitment to paying down pension liabilities – a decision that could increase the total debt for the first time in over a decade.

Finally, this budget doubles the amount of money being siphoned away from neighborhood preK-12 schools to higher education – and still cuts our community college and university budgets that are key to driving our economy. Students deserve fully-funded pre-K12 schools and affordable higher education – and the House Republican budget delivers neither.

Contact your state Representative and Senator – urge them to reject this dangerous budget proposal in upcoming negotiations and instead work toward a budget agreement that makes necessary investments in students of every age across our state.