Education Funding

Every year it seems the news is full of stories with politicians calling either for cuts in education funding, or increases in education funding.

This year, however, cuts were attempted in special education funding. Thankfully, the Congress was able to work out a bill that increased funding for special education. Never the less, many are worried that this is just the beginning, and that more attempts like this will be coming.

A Possible Solution.

Back in 2015, the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA), which oversees nine school districts and four public service academies in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, put together a ballot initiative to raise taxes specifically to fund their regional special education programs for the next six years. Despite widespread sentiment among most people against raising taxes, the ballot initiative passed successfully.

John spoke to KRESA Superintendent Dave Campbell to talk about the initiative and how their combined districts were able to get the funding passed. Proving that taxes to fund education can be raised when parents, educators, administrators, taxpayers and voters work together to make sure the message is heard.

Why Listen Again?

The process of getting this ballot passed took a few years. However, the need is dire enough that understanding how to get an initiative like this passed is very important. If your school district is having budget problems, the KRESA Special Education Funding Initiative might be a great blueprint on how to protect your school’s special education funding.

Please note: the link to the news article on M-Live about the successful election may be expired, depending on when you see this post. Typically they are good for about two years after the posted date, which was two months before this episode was posted.

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