Coming soon, to a polling place near you!
The Washtenaw Schools Millage will be on the November 3rd ballot, giving every voter who lives in the WISD a chance to take back the fate of our schools.
It’s official: a proposal to raise funds to keep our public schools strong will be on the November ballot, with the support of all ten school boards of the Washtenaw ISD. We ask you, our fellow voters, to support this proposal, which is critical to protecting our schools from the financial disaster that they face once the Federal stimulus money runs out.
The proposal would create a new property tax millage of 2 mills ($2 per $1,000 of taxable value) on all property in the ten school districts that make up the Wastenaw Intermediate School district. That’s Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, Manchester, Milan, Saline, Whitmore Lake, Willow Run and Ypsilanti. The proceeds of the millage would be shared out equally per student, with each district’s share calculated by how many students they have.
Schools have been on a bread and water diet for many years, and have been cutting back regularly as their funding failed to keep up with inflation. Michigan’s economic woes have devastated the normal sources of money for schools, and only the Federal stimulus money has kept us afloat this past year. That money will run out next year, while Michigan’s economy will take some years to recover. We all need to act now to protect our schools from this coming crisis as much as we can!
You’ll find more information about our schools and the proposal on these pages soon. In the meantime, let’s get the discussion rolling!
Comments
We are all hurting in this economy, so it’s time to tighten up your belts. I’m talking to the schools with that last line. I read the sales pitch; as their funding failed to keep up with inflation – like most people’s pay which has not kept up with inflation; Michigan‚Äôs economic woes have devastated the normal sources of money for schools – and for businesses like I work for who are having to reduce benefits to help keep the doors open; and only the Federal stimulus money has kept us afloat this past year – which already comes out of our pocket, Federal stimulus money is not some magical money pot; that money will run out next year, while Michigan‚Äôs economy will take some years to recover – nobody is stimulating the average worker’s pay; we all need to act now to protect our schools from this coming crisis – who protected us from this crisis? As you can see, everything stated has effected us and we are having to deal with it. How much total money is taken in by the school system and what percentage is spent on each student. I can look it up, but it is probably a sad small number. Maybe administration and pet projects need to be cut to allow the real intended recipients, the students, benefit from our tax dollars.