A2: Schools

An editorial in the Detroit News argues that school districts and charter schools in Michigan that have already made structural reforms should be spared from some of the school aid cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder. “Snyder’s cuts will force many districts to tackle benefit reforms they’d avoided — such as having employees contribute at least 20 percent of their health insurance coverage and moving to defined-contribution retirements plans such as 401(k)s. Michael Van Beek, an education researcher at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, says traditional districts which meet the 80/20 benefit model are ‘few and far between.’ But there are a few, including Ann Arbor, St. Johns, Watervliet and Vicksburg.” [Source]