LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Roger Victory voted this week in favor of a series of budget amendments to support school choice and secure critical protections for students attending nonpublic schools.
“The proposed budgets that Senate Democrats passed fail to support all students equally,” said Victory, R-Hudsonville. “I will continue to work with my Republican colleagues to push back and ensure that the money follows the student in education.”
Victory supported amendments to the budgets for School Aid and the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) that would have eliminated unfair discrimination against nonpublic schools, which ultimately harm students.
Amendments to Senate Bill 166, the School Aid budget, would have:
- Extended access to free school meals to nonpublic schools.
- Clarified that nonpublic schoolteachers are eligible for the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) early literacy and phonics training.
- Allowed student teachers at nonpublic schools to receive the Future Educator Scholarship student teaching stipend and to fulfill work requirements at nonpublic schools.
- Fully funded cyber charter schools.
- Reinstituted language to prohibit intermediate school districts from discriminating against charter schools.
- Included funding to give nonpublic schools access to school safety and mental health grants and other school-based programs.
- Continued enhanced per-pupil funding for charter schools that do not fully participate in the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System.
An amendment to SB 164, the MiLEAP budget, would have allowed nonpublic schools to offer dual enrollment to students.
The proposed amendments failed on a party-line vote, with all Senate Democrats voting in opposition.
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