Enrollment in Michigan K -12 schools will likely fall more than 9 percent by the year 2025, compared to the year 2013, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of U.S. Department of Education.
Chris Wigent says that is bad news for schools, which are already struggling. Wigent is Executive Director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators.
He says if a district were to lose 40 students, for example, it would mean a loss of $300,000 in per-pupil state revenue.
"But they most likely can't lower their expenditures," he says, "because the enrollment declines wouldn't all come in the same grades. So they couldn't cut teaching staff, they couldn't cut back on bus runs. All the expenses would basically be the same."
Wygent says he thinks the state need to change the way schools are funded. That means modifying Proposal A.
Prop A barred communities from voting to tax themselves more to support their schools.
