(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/11/2024) A coalition of 13 education associations Tuesday opposed the House’s proposed Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund extension, a $600 million investment that the coalition described as “strikingly similar” to the current Michigan Public School Employees' Retirement (MPSERS) overpayment.  

The letter, addressed to House members and shared with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, State Budget Director Jen Flood and Board of Education members, instead encouraged support for a proposal to reduce public school’s MPSERS contribution rate by 7% and eliminate the 3% health care contribution requirement for school employees.  

The proposal is sponsored by Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) and Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) in the form of HB 5803 and SB 911 , which were both introduced today.  

The coalition also asked that the entirety of savings from the MPSERS overpayment, approximately $670 million, be kept in K-12 public education, instead of being diverted elsewhere.  

The groups joined in opposing the SOAR legislation included the Michigan Education Association, AFT-MI, the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators, the Michigan Association of School Boards, the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principal, the Michigan School Business Officials, the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education, the School Equity Caucus, the Education Advocates of West Michigan and the K-12 Alliance of Michigan.  

These groups said reducing the MPSERS contribution rate will ensure continued full funding of teacher retirement benefits and bring about substantial cost savings, approximately $450 to $600 per student annually, for public school districts. 

At the same time, eliminating the 3 percent health care contribution would benefit educators across the state, these groups wrote.  

“For too long, it’s been a one-way street with the School Aid Fund being used to supplement the General Fund,” the letter read. “Since 2012, nearly $11 billion in School Aid dollars have been diverted from our local schools to pay for priorities that are not at all related to K-12 education. Currently, about $1.2 billion of School Aid Funds are going to costs that should be paid for by the General Fund – equating to nearly $925 per pupil.”  

These groups said that the potential for this to continue is “alarmingly high,” with the House’s SOAR fund bills inching closer to a vote (See related story).  

“Reenacting SOAR would be the continuation of failed economic policy straight from the Engler and Snyder playbook,” the letter read. “While the new package contains some important reforms, it does not change the overall structure, diverting money from public classrooms to businesses.”  

The groups requested that any discussion of programs that would reduce overall revenue for schools be tabled until an agreement on the MPSERS restructuring is agreed, highlighting the legislation recently introduced by Koleszar and Hertel.  

“This economic opportunity has only been achieved because of the sacrifices of Michigan’s public schools and their employees,” the letter read. “Educators across the state, from management to labor, all agree that these dollars belong in K-12 education and any funds that are diverted is less than what public schools should rightly expect.  

“We urge you, and your colleagues, to refrain from voting on any proposal until the historic opportunity to reinvest the entirety of MPSERS cost savings is resolved, and this funding is used where it belongs: in Michigan’s public schools for our students, educators and classrooms.”