| MichiganHistorical
Background
In 1972, the Supreme Court of Michigan found that the
state's school finance system violated the equal protection
clause of the U.S. Constitution in Governor v. State
Treasurer, 203 N.W.2d 457. However, after the U.S.
Supreme Court decision in San
Antonio v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973), the
Michigan court vacated its earlier decision, in Milliken
v. Green, 212 N.W.2d 711 (1973). In 1984, a coalition
of school districts again challenged the school funding
formula, but the suit was dismissed on the grounds that
the school districts, as creations of the state, lacked
the right to sue the state.
Between 1972 and 1992, voters in Michigan defeated
eleven different referenda designed to change education
funding. In 1991, the legislature adopted a law requiring
districts with extensive industrial and commercial property
to share their property wealth with property-poor school
districts and, in 1993, eliminated the use of local
property taxes for school funding. In 1994, Michigan
voters approved a constitutional amendment increasing
the sales tax, and the legislature expanded funding
for the state education foundation program. In 1997,
the Supreme Court of Michigan ruled that the state must
reimburse local school districts for the cost of special
education services mandated by law, in Durant v.
State, 566 N.W.2d 272.
Last updated: March, 2008 |
