Democrats still leave schools with 52% cut to school safety

House Republican Leader Matt Hall on Wednesday blasted House Democrats for pulling a political stunt but failing to restore the full $302 million that they cut from school safety and mental health funding.

In the state school aid budget that passed this summer along party lines, Democrats slashed 92% of funding for school safety and student mental health. This week in session, the Democrats refused to fully restore the resources, passing a spending bill that still leaves schools with less than half of the safety and mental health funding they received last year.

“House Democrats yanked $302 million away from school efforts to keep students safe and support their mental health. This terrible move will cause cuts to essential programs and layoffs of dedicated school resource officers and counselors,” said Hall, R-Richland Township. “Even now, in the face of mounting public pressure against the school safety cut, Democrats are refusing to restore even half of what they took away from our schools. This less-than-half-measure leaves schools and students without the resources they need, but Democrats seem to hope this stunt will be good enough to improve their political prospects. Do they care more about protecting their political careers than keeping students safe?”

Democrats have repeatedly defended the $302 million cut, even as school administrators, the state superintendent, teachers unions, and education advocates have criticized the reduced funding and warned that they will result in layoffs of school resource officers and counselors and cuts to safety upgrades and mental health programs.

After months of ignoring the crisis and criticism, Democrats today proposed a bill bringing back $125 million for the funding, which will not even cover half of what was lost. For example, Detroit Public Schools will still suffer a cut of about $6 million; Oxford Community Schools will lose nearly $1 million; and Kalamazoo Public Schools will lose $1.5 million. House Bill 5503 still leaves schools with a 52% cut to school safety and mental health funding. Hall voted for the bill to get as much funding as possible into local schools, but said more investment is needed to fully restore the school safety and mental health funding.

While Democrats still haven’t restored the full $302 million in school safety and mental health funding, the budget they passed awards more than $400 million to earmarked special projects in favored districts.