Battle Creek Enquirer: Public Schools Brace for Deep Funding Cuts

For years, it has cost more to educate the area's children than the state steered to local schools, a gap that's expected to widen as Gov. Rick Snyder calls for cuts to K-12 funding to cover the exhaustion of federal stimulus funds and other shortfalls in Lansing.

The 21 school districts in the (Battle Creek) Enquirer's coverage area spent a combined $5.7 million more than they took in between the 2007-08 and 2009-10 school years, according to an Enquirer analysis of schools' financial documents. And, as of early February, districts were projecting a combined $4.2 million shortfall this school year alone, though the final budgets usually come in somewhat better than originally projected. The share of districts' savings spent to cover yearly deficits doubled every year, the analysis found.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110227/NEWS01/102270333/1002/news01/Public-schools-brace-deep-funding-cuts