Chairman Hall: Are Democrats more interested in protecting their own political careers than they are in keeping students safe?
Democrats still cut school safety measures by 52%
House Republican Leader Matt Hall on Wednesday blasted House Democrats for playing political games while failing to restore the full $302 million they cut from the school safety and mental health budget.
Democrats cut funding for school safety and student mental health by 92% in the state’s school aid budget that was passed bipartisan over the summer. This week in the legislative session, Democrats refused to fully restore funding, passing a spending bill that leaves schools with less than half the safety and mental health funding they received last year.
“House Democrats have slashed $302 million from school efforts to keep students safe and support mental health. This egregious move will result in cuts to essential programs and the firing of dedicated school resource officers and counselors,” said Hall, a Republican from Richland Township. “Even now, at a time of growing public pressure to cut school safety, Democrats refuse to restore even half of the budget they cut from schools. This less-than-half measure will leave schools and students without the resources they need, yet Democrats seem hopeful this ploy will improve their own political prospects. Are they more interested in protecting their political careers than keeping students safe?”
Democrats have repeatedly defended the $302 million cuts while school administrators, state superintendents, teachers unions and education advocacy groups have criticized the cuts, warning they will lead to layoffs of school instructors and counselors and cuts to safety and mental health programs.
After months of ignoring the crisis and criticism, Democrats introduced a bill today that would restore $125 million in funding, but it wouldn’t cover even half of the lost funding. Detroit Public Schools, for example, would still see cuts of about $6 million; Oxford Community Schools would lose nearly $1 million; and Kalamazoo Public Schools would lose $1.5 million. House Bill 5503 would leave school safety and mental health funding cut by 52%. Rep. Hall voted for the bill to get as much money as possible into local schools, but said more investments are needed to fully restore school safety and mental health funding.
Democrats have yet to fully restore $302 million in funding for school safety and mental health, but the budget they passed earmarks more than $400 million for certain special projects in favored districts.
