Save Unity College

A new business tax cut that took effect this week means the state’s School Aid Fund  is expected to see its lowest revenues in inflation-adjusted dollars since the adoption of Proposal A in 1994.

The tax cut is costing the School Aid Fund — the primary revenue source for Michigan’s K-12 schools – about $700 million a year, according to a report issued last week by the  state Senate Fiscal Agency.

The report, which provides an update on Michigan tax revenues for fiscal 2011 and estimates for fiscal 2012, includes a graphic shown here that charts School Aid Fund revenues since 1994, adjusted for inflation. 

Equated to 2010 dollars, the SAF had revenues of almost $12 billion in 1994, the year Michigan voters approved Proposal A, which shifted the bulk of K-12 funding from local to state revenues.

The fund’s revenues peaked at a little over $14 billion in the late 1990s, in inflation adjusted dollars, and are expected to hit bottom at $10.7 billion in 2011-12, the chart shows.

And that’s despite an improving economy and unexpected increase in sales tax revenues. In fact, because of t

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Getting families engaged in their children’s education, using social media, turning around struggling schools, the morale of our nation’s premiere teachers, and progress (or lack thereof) in efforts to improve the nation’s major federal education legislation…This year, our most-viewed posts covered these topics, and much more. Here are our ten most-read posts of 2011 (as indicated by our trusty Google Analytics tracking system). Enjoy!

10. New Models for Family Engagement

9. Seeing the Future for Public Education

8. The Importance of Trust and Morale in School Turnarounds

7. Mass Customized Learning: An Interview with Education Authors Charles Schwahn and Bea McGarvey

6. The Science of Good Character…Two Schools’ Journey to Success for Students by Nurturing “Grit”

5. Is Promoting Diversity a Goal of Public Schools?

4.

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AAA basketball blog 010411

Two weeks ago, Eagle’s Landing coach Clay Crump made reference to the scouting value of a tournament like the Converse Classic at Columbia. Perhaps nobody gained as much intelligence on potential state touarnament opponents than the host Eagle. Columbia’s four-game run to the tournament championship included wins over AAA teams Butler, Crisp County and Eagle’s Landing. They blew out Butler, but Crisp was within a basket at the end and Eagle’s Landing stayed within seven points of them

The Riverwood boys have already experienced on-court misery, opening 5-6, with all but one of the losses by eight points or less. They were able to get over the top at the Shane’s Cristmas Classic at Union Grove, topping Class AAAAA Newnan in the final. Jamahl Davis scored 22 points in the final and averaged 20 points in three tournament games

Girls
Big question: Can anyone in AAA beat Washington County? The Lady

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I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond the other day, and I was amazed to find that cupcakes have taken over the holiday season. There were cupcake-related items on display everywhere.  It was literally cupcake Christmas overkill.

My curiosity got to me  so I did a bit of  online investigating and found out that not only did Bed, Bath and Beyond offer 141 things cupcake-related, shockingly, Target had a whopping 281 cupcake-related items (which was up from the day before when the store offered 279) for sale. Not one of these things was actually eatable.

Don’t buy me a single one of them.

OK, I must admit I’m not that crazy about cupcakes. I know. I know. Just about everyone else is. But I’m not a cupcake hater either. I mean, who can hate a cupcake? I’ve written about cupcakes on the blog and even had a guest blogger, Erin Nederbo,  give out her five favorite cupcakes in Chicago on a Sugar Buzz Chicago post earlier this year.

It’s just that I’m not cupcake-obsessed. It’s no

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