Rep. Joseph Aragona spoke out today against the Michigan state education budget which was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week.

“We had a chance to invest in our students — all of our students — and instead Democrats here in Majority decided to go on a spending spree,” Aragona said. “Amendments proposed by myself and other Republicans would have appropriated nearly $2 billion directly into classrooms. That’s over a thousand dollars per kid. Those plans were rejected in favor of funding unnecessary oversight agencies and pet “pork” projects. We don’t need to spend $125 million on electric school buses that can’t run in the snow and won’t even reach most rural kids. We need solutions that work for all of them.”

Both budgets have come under fire for under-investing outside of the big cities, especially a lack of desperately needed road-repair funds for smaller towns and municipalities.

“This budget appropriates less dollars for school resource officers, why is the Governor putting the safety of students at risk?,” Aragona said. “There’s a pattern forming here. By signing this education budget, Governor Whitmer is further signaling her willingness to ignore the needs of parents and students.”

Rep. Aragona and his office can be reached at (517) 373-1785 or JosephAragona@house.mi.gov.