DETROIT – When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the budget, she also issued 147 line item vetoes.
One of those vetoes was the per pupil funding increase to charter schools so, unlike traditional public schools, charter schools did not get that increase in payments.
Charter school supporters held a press conference to express their unhappiness. The supporters chose Monday for the conference because that is when the first state aid payments were made.
Dozens of charter school supporters came out on Monday, hoping the governor would listen to them. They expressed frustration that Whitmer vetoed a $240 per pupil funding increase to charter schools.
According to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 75 percent of charter school students have low incomes. The Michigan Association of Public School Academies estimates that 50 percent of Detroit and Flint students go to a charter school
The governor's office released a response, and it reads, in part: "The budgets Governor Whitmer received were fatally flawed, and she had to make tough decisions to keep our families and communities safe and help Michiganders access critical services that they rely on every day. If Republicans want to come back to the table to negotiate changes to the budget she signed, she is ready to talk."