UPDATED: Parents, Leaders Hold Education Rally in Lansing

A rally on the steps of Lansing's Capitol building seemed to have low turnout of fewer than 200 people, according to those present.

Parents and educators who attended, however, said it was important to speak up, to show up and to continue fighting to preserve Michigan's education funding.

State lawmakers want to take money set aside for kindergarten through 12th grade public education and use it elsewhere. If approved, some of the money would be diverted to universities and community colleges. And another portion would be applied to the state's $1.6 billion in debt.

For parents like Anita Bartschat of Northville, it was an opportunity to attempt to sway lawmakers into making K-12 education a greater priority in the state's budget. She spoke before rally-goers today.

While the figure hasn't been finalized – Senate and House budget bills are being reconciled this week – school districts across the state are looking at losing nearly $450 per pupil in state aid.

For , that means big funding losses to the tune of an estimated $7 million, officials have said. To alleviate the budget pressure, voters passed a May 3. The extra money will be used to pay for capital improvements like roofing, air conditioning and heating repairs out of a special fund instead of the district's general fund.

Bartschat was a parent member of the district's sinking fund committee and also serves as a member of the Legislative Action Network Leadership Team, which in Northville is a semblance of the PTA groups throughout the district.

"Northville has a very active LAN group," she said. As a LAN representative, she has spoken before the state legislature and helped organized district-wide efforts to get parents to contact local politicians about opposing Gov. Rick Snyder's education cuts in the state budget.

"As a mom. this is my most important role right now," she said.

"These cuts aren't really necessary," Bartschat added. "The future of Michigan demands we have highly educated people. We must invest in education to keep Michigan competitive and attractive to businesses."

While she said she's pleased that state Rep. Kurt Heise – who represents Northville, Plymouth-Canton and Wayne-Westland districts – voted against the House education bill, she said his congressional colleagues must do the same.

Still, Heise, who has two children in Plymouth-Canton schools, voted against the House bill but said cuts are inevitable. He said he'd like to minimize the severity of cuts to the schools he represents but said that it will be an uphill battle.

The rally is sponsored by the Parent-Teacher Association of Michigan.

Denise Zander and Sheila Paton, co-chairwomen of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' Legislative Action Network, also plan to be there. Paton is scheduled to speak to the crowd assembled on the State Capitol's steps.

"It's supposed to be a statewide rally," Paton said, ticking off other school districts which will be represented: Northville, West Bloomfield, Farmington, Walled Lake, Novi, Clarkston, Lansing and Dearborn, among others.

Paton is hopeful that recent news of the state getting $500 million more in revenue than expected will ease some of the pressure on schools.

"Honestly, I don't think the vast majority of parents recognize what this is going to look like if these funding cuts take place," she said.