Michigan’s method for funding public education changed
significantly when voters approved Proposal A in 1994. The
nearly 400 pages of laws directing the state’s school funding
mechanism can be complex and convoluted. A key component of the
system is the per-student “foundation allowance,” and two common
myths pertain to it. First, each year, the Legislature
establishes a “basic” foundation allowance ($7,151 per student
in the 2009-2010 school year), which many incorrectly assume is
a state grant to each district. It’s not a grant, but one part
of a complicated formula that limits per-pupil funding
disparities across districts. Second, because each school
district uses the number generated for it under the foundation
allowance formula to estimate its annual operating revenue, many
believe the figure represents the total amount per student that
each school will have to spend for the year. In reality, the
school aid grant each district receives from the state —
different for every district and also determined by