House subcommittee hears overview of Michigan school aid budget and key pressures

House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Department of Education Chair Representative Kelly convened the committee for a briefing on the state’s school aid budget, where analysts outlined the budget’s size, revenue mix and budget pressures, including retirement liabilities and special‑education costs.

The briefing, delivered by Jacqueline Mullins, senior fiscal analyst for House Fiscal, and Noel Benson, fiscal analyst for House Fiscal, said the school aid budget is about $20.8 billion and represents roughly 26% of statewide appropriations (excluding most federal funding). Mullins told the subcommittee that 89% of the school aid budget is funded with state‑restricted revenue (primarily the School Aid Fund), roughly 11% comes from federal grants, and a small rounded share is general fund dollars used for items not eligible for School Aid Fund spending.

Why this matters: the school aid budget is the state’s largest education appropriation and funds day‑to‑day operations for K‑12 districts, charters, intermediate school districts and several education agencies. Committee members pressed staff for inflation‑adjusted comparisons, data on special‑education head counts versus FTEs, and clarification on charter and cyber‑school funding after the presentation.

Analysts’ overview: Mullins said the…