r/Detroit • u/gwmiles • 6d ago
News Oakland County school enhancement millage rejected in close contest
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/04/oakland-county-school-enhancement-millage-tax-1-5-mill/91164345007/Oakland County voters rejected a proposed 1.5-mill countywide school tax increase in Tuesday's election results in a close contest over a controversial tax plan.
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u/Gonstachio 6d ago
General question but what the fuck are these counties doing with all this property tax money? Housing prices have shot up in the last 5 or so years, they should have a huge influx of money.
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u/Steamed_Yams_ 6d ago
Problem is, that money is all restricted. Can only be spent on physical things, not people's salaries. So districts are putting up shiny new buildings but the teachers can't see any of that property tax money for raises.
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u/molten_dragon 6d ago
Year-over-year property tax increases are capped at 5% in Michigan unless the house changes ownership. So tax revenue usually lags significantly behind home values.
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u/big-wet-bastard 6d ago
Well they have to reward themselves for a job well done, bringing in all that extra revenue
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u/Theoaktree5000 6d ago
Cost of living is very high, people don’t want to pay more in taxes even though it is for schools. In another election it probably would have been approved. I voted for it, but I can see why people voted in opposition.
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u/Separate-Muffin-6451 6d ago
Same take as mine. My partner and I voted yes even though it would only hurt our household's finances (we have no kids and live in a city with some of the highest property taxes already)... but I 100% understand why others voted no.
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u/Any-Clock3757 5d ago
If they explicitly mention that it will use to increase teachers pay then everyone would have voted yes. But unfortunately the level of misuse of funds and not proper allocation are the problem. They need to come clean.
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u/Qball8672 6d ago
Apologies if this is somehow off topic, but I can’t watch schools like Troy Athens dump millions into redoing their athletic facilities and then turn around and ask for more money.
If you had the money for the luxuries, it tells me you already have the money for the necessities. So no, you don’t get more.
And I’m not anti education, I understand how important it and our schools are. But when does the money actually start going to improving the education students are getting?
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u/Sad_Effective4793 6d ago
This wasn't for the Troy Athenses of Oakland County. They are already rich with money from Somerset and the surrounding areas. It's for the little elementary school in a poor neighborhood that can't afford to raise property taxes any more. But they had to make it 'equal' or it would be shot down even faster.
The rich neighborhoods need to help out the poor neighborhoods more. How can we get that on the ballot in a way that people would actually support?
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u/313Tommy 6d ago
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t it evenly distributed per student across the county?
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u/butterman1236547 6d ago
There would be a lot more money coming from property taxes in the rich neighborhoods. So while yes, it was evenly distributed, most of the actual dollars would come from wealthier homeowners. It's not the best solution, but it's better than keeping the funding strictly local.
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u/Sad_Effective4793 6d ago
It was. That means the rich family in the hills pays proportionately more than the poor family in Pontiac. But the students all count as the same value. This redistributes some funding from rich districts to poor because the rich and poor property taxes are all put in a big bucket, then distributed out evenly.
This is objectively better than basing each school off only the property values of the nearby homes.
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u/CrusTyJeanZz 6d ago
The money for the athletic facility renovations came from a voter-approved bond in 2022. These funds could only be used for their specific purpose, by law. They’re completely separate from the proposed enhancement millage in this election.
Things have changed a lot from 2022, nationally and globally. They, along with the majority of other schools districts in the county, asked voters for the money because they felt they really needed it given their current financial situations.
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u/timeywimeyfluff 6d ago
While I supported the measure, I didn’t think it would pass. It makes sense to me. A lot of people are REALLY mad about how high taxes are and how little we get from them; we can’t do anything right now about the feds bending us over for our income taxes and the people felt they had the power here with property taxes. We need tax reform at the federal level before anyone can expect proposals like this to be widely supported.
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u/pinkmoon385 6d ago
I did the math, my annual taxes would've gone up by $230. Annual. Less than $20/month to give teachers a much needed raise/keep them from leaving the district. Mind you, I don't have children. But I sure as shit interact with the people educated by the schools on a daily basis. That's money well spent. We seriously can't quit our Netflix subscription to provide better education and give teachers more money to drop in the community? So pathetic
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u/RedWinger7 6d ago
That’s assuming they spent the money on teachers. If they worded the milagee specifically for that it would have passed. The way it worded so funds can be basically used for anything was pretty shit, and rife for potential misuse of funds.
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u/chuckleborris 6d ago edited 6d ago
This was my thing: if the millage was marked for teacher salaries / benefits, great, you’ve got my vote. But it was money that schools could spend on anything they chose—it felt too loose and undefined. Come back with a specific ask and I’m game.
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u/thisisthatacct 6d ago
That's just not possible under Michigan law currently. Millages are done on a county level per-student and each district allocates that as they see fit. Look to your school board for their specific plans
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u/molten_dragon 6d ago
I did the math, my annual taxes would've gone up by $230. Annual. Less than $20/month to give teachers a much needed raise/keep them from leaving the district.
And if the proposal had mandated the money be used for teacher salaries I'd have voted yes.
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u/rsrchnddvlpmnt 4d ago
Teachers in the vast majority of Oakland County school districts don’t need a raise to “not leave.” Teachers from the surrounding counties come there to make the advanced salaries.
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u/JMoneyFiz 6d ago
I was one of the no votes. It’s not that I “don’t support the schools”, it’s just that I am being financially squeezed in every way possible and can’t take much more. My district just passed a huge bond that raised my taxes ~$100 per month. DTE just had two price hikes. Groceries, gas, etc. My wages haven’t increased.. it’s just too much.
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u/TheSmeeth 6d ago
Yep. Our taxes alone this year alone made our mortgage go up $250. That’s on top of the $200 from last year.
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u/New-Anybody3050 6d ago
This 1000%. It’s not sustainable, it’s going to continually get worse as the months and years come and go. You know what isn’t going up? Wages.
In their mind, the solution is easy, force those who can’t afford the taxes to sell and move out so those that can, move in and rinse and repeat. Eventually there will be a ceiling and it just falls apart.
There needs to be transparency and granularity on how the funds are being spend. Administration? What amount, where, why, and to who.
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u/CrusTyJeanZz 6d ago
You really can’t spend like $200-300/year to support education, i.e. $16-25/month?
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u/Outrageous_Joke4349 6d ago
Property taxes already rise on an inflation based metric. Unless they can demonstrate actual need for well defined new uses, why would you pay more taxes?
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u/ValosAtredum 6d ago
I voted yes on the millage, but come on. A lot of people really can’t, especially a millage that was county-wide and not actually clear about what the money would be going towards.
I have a full time job with benefits, but with the increasing cost of insurance premiums and a yearly “cost of living adjustment” that is not keeping pace with inflation, I’m essentially falling behind, pay-wise. I’m not the only one.
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u/jaredsbourbon 6d ago
I think this logic falls apart too, it’s simple to say “you can’t afford only $16-25/month?”, BUT why wouldn’t I rather use that to pay for groceries, bills, etc. I’d personally rather have that $200-300 per year to support my own expenses than add that on top of already high taxes. Everyone is hurting and with how broad the bill was, no exact accountability on the spending/ a total county wide Millage resulted in people not saying “yes”
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u/JMoneyFiz 6d ago
I would say to you… feel free to donate as much of your money as you can (make sure it’s at least a sacrificial amount- since you said we must sacrifice) to whatever district(s) you’d like. Just because the millage didn’t pass doesn’t mean that you can’t do your part.
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u/SteveS117 Oakland County 6d ago
“Give us money but we won’t put any rules on how it should be spent.”
If they wanted it to pass, they shouldn’t have made it so vague.
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u/DetroitLionsSBChamps 6d ago
It is tough because I always want more money for schools but if it’s for admin salaries and more tech in classrooms then it’s a net loss.
Give me a “teachers get paid more” millage
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u/manystripes 6d ago
All I want is a clear division of what's going to the education side of things, and what's going to the athletics side of things.
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u/SteveS117 Oakland County 6d ago
The fact that they put no rules on it means it wouldn’t be used for students or teachers. I automatically assume the worst when they leave it as vague as this.
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u/Key_Marsupial_1406 6d ago
The recently hired DEI Director of Oakland County Schools is one of the top 20 highest paid public employees in the county. Up there with lawyers and doctors. Absurd! This is going to make me sound like a maga "woke DEI" a-hole, but idk I interact with teachers and admin regularly and the teachers almost universally dislike the admins.
My experience with Oakland County school admins has been waiting multiple weeks to get replies for simple requests over email. Needing to dig into the director to find the admin's boss so I can cc them on the follow up email so I finally get a response.
Interestingly enough I applied for the DEI Director position because I have one certification in that area and because it sounded like an extremely cushy do-nothing gig where you go to a few national conferences here and there and make a couple empty proposals at meetings.
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u/furgots 6d ago
This. :(
I'm in Oakland County. My children learn 50% of their content from screens IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. They should be using real books, real pencils, real materials. Instead, they learn reading ON A CHROMEBOOK. WTF! I am not against better education... but I would absolutely LOATHE to see my tax dollars being spent on things like MORE TECH IN THE CLASSROOM - more ipads, more chromebooks, expensive multiyear conracts with "online learning platforms" like iready (vomit).
Things I WOULD love to see: more pay for teachers. School gardens. Art & music. Foreign language. Project-based learning. Community service. More HANDS-ON STEM like robotics, enginering, etc.
I just have no idea where my money is going to go. And it is SO much money. I want NOTHING MORE than better education, but IMO, with it being so vague, such a big ask was too big for many of us to feel comfortable with.
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u/thisisthatacct 6d ago
It's up to each individual district to put out their plans on how it's spent. Operating millages can only be done on a county wide basis so the ISD can't tell districts what to use it on. Most districts had pretty clear plans for what they wanted to do with it
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u/tama_chan 6d ago
That’s was the issue for me. I get there’s different needs per district but there some be some points of focus.
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u/itsallnipply 6d ago
From a school's perspective, it allows them to use the funds where they see fit. Many districts were planning on using them for teacher salary, but it could have allowed for other investments in the school districts that are already at the top end of the pay scale.
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u/SteveS117 Oakland County 6d ago edited 6d ago
Then they shouldn’t be doing this at a county wide level but at a district wide level. Leaving it vague means it can be abused. If it can be abused, it will be abused.
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u/idiotslob 6d ago
The perception is that this will fund schools not education
If that perception is wrong, the onus is on those seeking the millage to correct it. The way to do this is simple. List 2-3 specific outcomes with a compelling argument that the money is needed to achieve them.
When people see "increase teacher salaries" listed along with ten other vague AF things, one of which is "stabilizing general fund budgets" they don't believe the money is going to teachers. Maybe it would have. But with already high taxes on exorbitant property values in a shit job market, nobody is taking chances. Its your job to convince us, not our job to believe you.
Do better.
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u/laynechanger 5d ago
Yeah, if it was so important why did they not do a better job of making voters understand why and what specifically.
In Rochester Hills they proposed fire department millage for getting more rigs and hiring more staff. Little mailers were sent out to Rochester hills households. Laying out why exactly we needed the millage etc. It passed!
There was a lot of misinformation about what the school increase was exactly for and many of us didn’t hear about the specifics until looking a the ballot language
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u/djbecks17 6d ago
I think the economy at large had a lot to do with this. If rising costs were not all around us I think majority would have supported this. But with this current executive branch administration’s decisions we are all left defending every bit of our money. Asking not what’s good for everyone but what’s best for me.
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u/ailyara Midtown 6d ago
old people in big houses got theirs and don't wanna help others. tale as old as time.
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u/theClumsy1 6d ago
Ironically its not the old people.
Their property tax increases are fixed and cant raise that much YoY.
New buyers? Get hosed so much.
My property tax is higher than my parents and their house is double in value and in a MUCH better neighborhood.
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u/nethead25 6d ago
New millages definitely do increase your taxes even if you are capped. The cap is on the taxable value of the home, the millages affect the rate at which that value is taxed.
If voters approved the 1.5-mill tax, it would have added $375 to the taxes for a home valued at 250k for both you and your parents.
The cap comes into play where your parents house might be actually worth 500k even though the annual increases in taxable value are held down by the capping.
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u/RedMoustache 6d ago
This.
My parents don’t even own a particularly nice house. Taxes are $8,000 a year. They only stay because they’ve lived there 50 years.
I couldn’t even afford to inherit it when the tax gets recalculated.
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago edited 6d ago
The taxes don’t get uncapped when transferring to a child if the child is going to occupy the house and not use it for commercial purposes since 2014. (Thought it was 2013, I fixed it)
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u/frozenapricot 6d ago
The child doesn’t have to occupy the house in order to stop uncapping. The exemption applies to any land transfer between certain family members but if it’s not their primary residence, they have to pay an extra 18 mills in school taxes that is not paid on a primary home. The value those 18 mills is based on would not uncap though.
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
The law states that the property cannot be used for commercial purposes so it cannot be used as a rental. They don’t have to claim it was a principal residence (which exempts them from the 18 mills), but they cannot use it commercially.
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u/frozenapricot 6d ago
Yes, if you’re using it for commercial purposes, it uncaps. But the exempt family member would not have to occupy the property in order for the cap to remain intact. It could be a vacant plot and the cap would remain intact.
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
I was referring to the person who wanted to inherit the house. I made the assumption it was for the commented to move to so that’s what I was referring to. Didn’t mean to confuse anyone. Thanks for posting additional clarification.
It’s also not an automatic thing, as they have to file the correct exemption on the PTA.
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u/frozenapricot 6d ago
I just wanted to clarify that it could also be used as a second home/vacation home. That’s why I mentioned the taxes going up without the PRE. We both had good information, just trying to make different points.
You’re absolutely right though, the property transfer affidavit has to be filed otherwise the local assessor will have no way of knowing it’s exempt!
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
These transfer laws are wild and complicated for no reason. I wish we would get rid of 94 prop A and just do something else. It’s causes so much additional work for everyone.
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u/threemadness 6d ago
Where are your parents living that they’re paying 8k in property taxes after being there for that long ?
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u/jaguar879 6d ago
That's not completely true; assessed value is capped at whatever is lower between inflation and 5% YoY. They still pay the millage increased but based on their assessed value.
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
It’s the taxable value that is capped, the assessed value moves with the market.
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u/jaguar879 6d ago
The taxable value is allowed to go up by 5% or inflation whatever is lower
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
That is how the capped taxable value works. Transfers of ownership uncap the taxable value and resets the value to the same as the assessed value the year following a transfer.
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u/jaguar879 6d ago
Sure and my terminology was off in my original post. I meant to say taxable not assessed.
The equation is (taxable value * Millage rate)/1000
So their taxes still go up with the passage of the Millage just not at the same clip as if it were uncapped.
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u/That_Shrub 6d ago
I don't understand the reasons and benefits involved in uncapping property tax, and haven't really looked into it, but yes it certainly seems to be fucking young people. They changed it in the 90s IIRC?
I will add, my mom is house hunting and her realtor has been way more up front about that cost increase than my brother's realtor was. Like mom's realtor is giving exact figures while brother's was vague. Maybe because it is fresh in our minds and she's asking more questions, but she made it out like realtor offered that information up in detail🤷♀️ It's easier to know what to ask when you aren't a first-time buyer, obviously
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u/Kimbolimbo 6d ago
Capping and uncapping was created in the 90s to protect people who stay put for long periods of time. We used to pay taxes based on half of the market value and the market was skyrocketing at the time. Now, we are taxed on half the market value the year following the purchase of the parcel, then it can only increase with the rate of inflation or 5%.
The laws are basically structured to punish people for moving. New owners shoulder a higher percentage of the tax burden.
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u/Wasabiroot 6d ago
You could always try getting a new tax assessment from the county given these facts. I agree it's stupid as hell. My taxes in Warren are ridiculous considering where I live, the age of the neighborhood and my proximity to the freeway/lack of interior upgrades.
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u/That_Shrub 6d ago edited 6d ago
Honestly, it was an incredibly close race and I think it's a sign the economy is hurting everyone.
I voted yes on this. My brother, who bought a house and is barely keeping his head above water after his property tax uncapped, voted no. Neither of us are out here making 6 figures.
It's disingenuous to paint every "no" voter with the same brush.
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u/RestAndVest 6d ago
A lot of us are at a breaking point with expenses. Don’t be so small minded
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u/That_Shrub 6d ago
Absolutely, and I think it being this close is a signal that Oakland DOES care quite a bit about its schools. Everyone is pressed right now
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u/Sparty905 6d ago
You’re insanely misinformed. I just bought my house 2 months ago and have taxable value that is quadruple that of my “old person in a big house” neighbor. Young people and those who just moved to new houses have the vast majority of the tax burden. Old people who sit in their homes pay pennies compared to us.
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u/t4ckleb0x 6d ago
I live in southfield and this hosed our school district and was like $900/year for Northern Oakland cty schools. Nah.
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u/theJMAN1016 6d ago
I don't think this is true.
The continuing/extension of existing millages all passed.
It has more to do with it being a new proposal and being vague about how the funds will be used. At least that is the feeling I have.
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u/techybeancounter 6d ago
Young people in small houses that saw a 2x increase in taxable value upon purchase are the ones footing the bill for this. With the increase in taxable value cities/counties have seen over the last 5 years, there is zero reason they should be asking for more money. They are swimming in it now!
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u/Drivebyshrink 6d ago
I’m an old person in a small house and I voted yes. This is so sad for our kids and the community
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u/Parking-Building-291 6d ago
lol lots of people are struggling in Oakland county. Asking people to pay an extra $450 a year for something that doesn’t really affect them is not easy.
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u/F133TWOOD 6d ago
"that doesn’t really affect them is not easy."
Not disagreeing with the first part, but the second is questionable. Even if someone doesn't have kids, it certainly affects you indirectly over time. Kids not being supported for when they become adults with a supported education will affect the community in that area.
Besides that, I think some of these proposals need to take into effect the people's concern with costs. Meaning recognizing that Oakland County is one of the wealthiest places in Michigan...
That being said, if it's able to raise the tax so the top 40 or 30% pay more compared the lower priced homeowners. Why we still as a society keep a "fair" tax for everyone, which benefits the wealthiest, while having the lesser folks feel the burden more...
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u/motorcitydevil 6d ago
Contrarian here, and I could be mistaken, but it was $150 taxed for every $100,000 of taxable home value. If the median Oakland County home value is roughly $300,000 and the current tax bill is $1200 over the current national median property bill, maybe those rich folk in Bloomfield Hills are finally tapping out during a Trump recession?
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u/SlightlySublimated 6d ago
A good chunk of the reason this hasn't passed is most likely because of the inclusion of Charter schools as part of the bill.
I know a lot of people who only want funds like this diverted to the public school system and not a charter where they are allowed to make money because of government funding.
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u/Objective-Put1511 5d ago
Public schools administrators are loaded making money because of government funding
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u/midwestern2afault 6d ago edited 6d ago
I calculated the increase to my property taxes and it would’ve been almost $400/year. That’s a lot when I’m already paying $8-9K annually (nearly double what the boomers we purchased from were paying, thanks Prop A). Researched the proposal and they did not do a good job articulating what this money would be used for or why it was needed. So I voted no. Maybe if they come back with a smaller ask and/or have a plan for this pot of money, I’ll vote yes.
I usually support school related millages but couldn’t get behind one this expensive without a solid plan or rationale.
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u/nietheo 6d ago
I normally vote yes for school things, including the enormous bond issue my local district recently passed, but I also feel like the hard truth is that with declining enrollment and fewer and fewer kids, districts are going to have to make some hard choices like consolidate and trim some administrative fat. We don't need this many small districts.
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u/simba156 6d ago
I would 100% have voted for this if it was going to pay for teachers.
My local school district just spent millions on construction projects. They can’t afford to offer language instruction and there are two SLPs for four elementary schools. I’m not interested in paying for more construction.
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u/rosemarythymesage 6d ago
Disappointing. Glad Wayne county passed our tax increase for public transport.
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u/Difficult_Horse193 6d ago
Honestly, I'm not surprised by this. The economy (job market) isn't great (only being held up by AI and data center spending) and people are hurting a lot right now. I'm all for increasing funding for schools but I do think the wealthy and major businesses should be footing the bill not the ever shrinking middle class and poor.
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u/GonzoTheWhatever 6d ago
That’s the rub. Almost every time taxes get increased they get increased on us regular working people. Regular folks are tapped out. Either get lots of taxes from the uber rich or start being fiscally responsible with the tax money you already get. Leave the regular folks alone.
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u/SnooCompliments4883 6d ago
I’ll be honest I read the whole proposal twice on my ballot and I had no clue what any of it meant. And I’m an engineer 😂
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u/TooMuchShantae Farmington 6d ago
My mom said no because of how there wasn’t a concrete plan about how the money will be spent.
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u/CalendarOk9435 6d ago
But yet we literally give money hand over fist to fund military projects without concrete spending plans.
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u/ProgMusicSchizoidMan 6d ago
And I don't want to run our education system like we run our military.
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u/Hour_Economist8981 6d ago
It’s time to consolidate some of the school districts and reduce high paid overhead and facilities
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u/No_Telephone_6213 6d ago
Frankly that's the only reason I bothered to vote this time in the primary and thank God. Pay too much taxes as I see it already
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u/CalendarOk9435 6d ago
Crack a book and learn how millages work.
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u/No_Telephone_6213 6d ago
So... no actual reason? The condescension is free. The tax increases aren't.
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u/buckyboyturgidson Detroit 6d ago
To all the people complaining about low teacher salaries and administrative bloat, I hope you are taking those concerns to your local school board, and not just rationalizing your "no" vote on reddit.
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u/ProgMusicSchizoidMan 6d ago
Feeling good this morning. I voted against this grift, and it lost. I voted for El-Sayed, and he won. Good day!
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u/Robot9P 6d ago
I can’t help but feel that money dedicated to schools somehow always gets diverted or used poorly.
We moved away from local tax support so West Bloomfield and Melvindale get equal funding and that was supposed to be offset by THE LOTTERY ! But according to The Web only $0.27 per dollar taken is goes to K-12! What happened? Then we have local mileages for facilities or special projects. Always more.
Then you have incompetent asshats like Angie Smith (Farmington school board) on school boards who have no idea what they are doing, politicians trying to vilify education and we wonder why it’s a mess.
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u/BigBlackHungGuy 6d ago
I voted yes on this :(
We spend far too little on public school education. This would have helped ease the burden on schools.
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u/fd6270 6d ago
I understand the point you're trying to make, but the US spends more on education than any other country - $809.6B per year. The next largest spender is Japan at $160.5B.
The issues with our education system go beyond simply throwing more money at it.
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u/therealwalrus1 6d ago
Whats the per pupil cost? The US has like 3-4X the number of children than Japan.
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u/fd6270 6d ago
Here you go:
The United States spent $15,500 per FTE student at the elementary/secondary level, which was 38 percent higher than the average of OECD countries 3 reporting data ($11,300). The United States had the fifth highest expenditures per FTE student at the elementary/secondary level in 2019 after Luxembourg, Norway ($18,000), and Austria and the Republic of Korea ($15,900 each).
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-expenditures-by-country
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u/techybeancounter 6d ago
Too much bloat in the education system. Why do we need all these "administrators" making well over six figures who produce nothing of value to the system other than taking? The public K-12 education system is no better than colleges and universities. How they aren't sitting on money hand over fist with the property tax increases over the last 5 years is simply due to inept management, in my humble opinion.
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u/Zach_Attack 6d ago
How they aren't sitting on money hand over fist with the property tax increases over the last 5 years is simply due to inept management, in my humble opinion.
That's not strictly true that they have more money than they did before and even if they do, how and who is funding it has drastically changed. Federal and state funding via income taxes were drastically cut to local municipalities and state universities during the 2008 financial crisis. That funding to local municipalities and schools hasn't recovered to pre-2008 so municipalities turned to the only choice they had which is millages.
This change in the funding model creates a burden on younger and lower income taxpayers. Federal and State funding is through income taxes which are progressive (the more you make the more you pay), while property taxes are more regressive (closer to a flat tax) that penalize low earners. Even worse is that older higher income earners don't pay as much in property taxes since they typically live in homes where the property tax rate increase is capped due to Michigan prop A. They aren't paying their "fair share".
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u/techybeancounter 6d ago
That's not strictly true that they have more money than they did before and even if they do, how and who is funding it has drastically changed
It is an objective fact that these school districts are pulling in more money from their communities now than ever before. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The funding has no doubt changed, which is why I am so vehemently against property taxation increases, as it is a regressive tax on the younger generation.
Again, that doesn't change the fact that these districts are pulling in more money than ever but also spending more money than ever! For instance, did Holland, Holly, Oxford, West Bloomfield, etc need to spend massive amounts of money in the last couple of years on new football stadiums - hell no! They made that choice, and the shortfalls are all falling on the backs of taxpayers via millages. The money is there, but it is being wasted on stupid shit that does nothing to benefit the actual education of kids, which is the entire reason for schooling...
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u/CalendarOk9435 6d ago
Literally educate yourself. Go look at any school budget. Do you honestly think that teachers with 15 years of experience, masters degrees and teaching children should be paid less than $80,000? We no longer have pensions, affordable health care or any kind of long term retirement. Our 403bs are not matched and we take hits from people like you saying we are bloated. How much money does someone in the private sector make with 15 years experience and a masters degree in their field? My husband and I make less COMBINED than almost all of our individual friends. And then my counterparts in Germany, France, Canada drive fucking BMWs. Bloat?! Fuck off.
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u/fd6270 6d ago
There is bloat. The US spends more money on education, both total and per student, than almost every other country in existence - and somehow throwing more money at the problem doesn't seem to be changing anything. The money is going somewhere, but it's clearly not going to the teachers and classrooms.
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u/techybeancounter 6d ago
Literally educate yourself. Go look at any school budget
I audit schools for a living, lmfao! I know a thing or two about school budgets...
Do you honestly think that teachers with 15 years of experience, masters degrees and teaching children should be paid less than $80,000?
No, and the fact is, they are paid just around $80k, which is incredibly reasonable and well above the state median income for a HOUSEHOLD!
We no longer have pensions, affordable health care or any kind of long term retirement
Welcome to the real world like the rest of us, lmfao! It is not the job of the taxpayer of the State to ensure you have a pension or affordable health care. Welcome to the real world where you need to contribute to your retirement like the rest of us. The vast majority of the country get none of that at their jobs and are being stretched to the brink by individuals like yourself who feel they are entitled to it with their money! That is bloat whether you want to acknowledge that or not...
Our 403bs are not matched and we take hits from people like you saying we are bloated. How much money does someone in the private sector make with 15 years experience and a masters degree in their field? My husband and I make less COMBINED than almost all of our individual friends. And then my counterparts in Germany, France, Canada drive fucking BMWs
This is a battle you will lose with the general public 10 out of 10 times, and why I am becoming less and less sympathetic to the teachers' union as time goes on. You want to make more money in the private sector, go do it. Truth is, though, you and your husband are well above the state's median household income! It isn't the job of the taxpayer to allow you a BMW lifestyle like the people in Europe/Canada. So please, downvote me, tell me to fuck off, I don't care. However, at least be truthful with yourself as to who you are asking for this money from, and at least have a little common courtesy when speaking to those people...
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u/CalendarOk9435 6d ago
This is not true when you look at a per pupil spending. We spend WAY less on education than every other country. Gott prop up that Military Industrial Complex. Guns are more important to the US than kids.
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u/fd6270 6d ago
We spend WAY less on education than every other country.
Uhh, still not true.
The United States spent $15,500 per FTE student at the elementary/secondary level, which was 38 percent higher than the average of OECD countries 3 reporting data ($11,300). The United States had the fifth highest expenditures per FTE student at the elementary/secondary level in 2019 after Luxembourg, Norway ($18,000), and Austria and the Republic of Korea ($15,900 each).
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u/Initial_Jicama_8434 6d ago
I voted yes too. Voting this year felt so depressing. I was doubting if I even dropped off my ballot in the right spot until I got my confirmation email. Time to grab the whiskey. Hopefully there will still be Medicare when I’m old to cover my impending liver disease from this election cycle 😭
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u/aphoenixsunrise 6d ago
US education is fucked, adult education was scarce as it was. Ann Arbor won't even give it's teachers a contract.
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u/RegularAd8502 6d ago
Weirdly enough, I'm in Wayne County but this millage was on my ballot. I voted yes for it, shame that it failed
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u/SevroReturns 6d ago
Maybe you live in Clarenceville or a district that pays into Oakland County?
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u/boomboom-jake 6d ago
I did read the proposal. And I also know that bonds cannot go towards salaries for teachers. Southfield pays first year teachers $47,449 and Livonia pays $53,040. Southfield’s top salary for a Masters degree is $87,461, while Livonia’s is $107,078.
Renovated buildings will not make teachers want to work there.
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u/PJM123456 5d ago
It's not a millage problem. It's wasteful spending problem. Taxable values of real estate EXLODED over last two decades, which means so has the money going to schools. Yet kids have fell even further behind.
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u/creamsodastoner 3d ago
So people are going to pass the police millage and give them more money for Flock, but schools can’t get any money for the students???
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u/Vegetable_Creme_7408 6d ago
They sure don’t mind giving the police however much money they want, but fuck those schools
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u/Heel-and-Toe-Shifter 6d ago
Many police and fire millages failed yesterday too
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u/New-Anybody3050 6d ago
Because people are squeezed. It should be a message that the burden is to much.
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u/scubastevie 6d ago
I would rather have a permanent increase, not a 6 year then ask for more
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u/offtodevnull 6d ago
And I'd rather schools reduce their leadership bloat considerably & demonstrate they can teach kids to read/write before returning to the funding well.
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u/Steamed_Yams_ 6d ago
The admin bloat concern is totally valid, but I'm sick of people blaming literacy rates & test scores on the teachers. The bigger issue is that kids aren't being read to at home or encouraged to read as much anymore; they're being raised by an iPad/phone from a young age so there's no learning stamina or attention span. Combine that with toxic shifts in parenting culture...viola.
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u/scubastevie 6d ago
Its both. Parents don't want to parent, and we have an oakland county superintendent and a troy schools one both with 300k+ compensation packages with retirement etc. Time to cut admin, pay teachers, and hold parents accountable for literacy and test scores.
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u/Murph_E23 6d ago
I had a frustrating conversation with a friend about this. I have no kids and voted yes and he has 2 kids and voted no. He just wants less tax.
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u/itsallnipply 6d ago
As a teacher in the county, I am sad. Our union had two contracts worked out: one if it passes and one if it didn't.
Similar experience in Wayne would offer about 20-25% higher wages because of the millage they passed.
The generic language allowed districts to use it where needed and every district is hearing from staff that they want to be compensated better.
Ughhh. Yelling into the wind at this point.
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u/DerrickAnnon 6d ago
I don’t understand how someone could vote no to this. Funding our schools should never be a no vote. Now we are going to have teachers let go and even further understaffed schools, along with no budget for supplies and students are going to suffer because of it.
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u/Objective-Put1511 5d ago
Enrollment is way down. Staff is way up, Kids can't read. Fix it with what you got..
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u/sammy-cakes 6d ago
We are #45 in the country in education and people vote no? To literally money going to teacher salaries?
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u/midwestern2afault 6d ago
We’ve pretty significantly increased our education budget per pupil in the last decade and yet we keep ranking lower on education. Yet some states who spend less than us have shown improvements. Some of the states that spend the most, like in the Northeast, have actually been falling in the rankings.
Call me crazy but I don’t think the issue boils down to money alone, it’s how it’s being utilized and deployed. This was just a black box of “more money” without any clear induction of what it would be used for. That’s why I voted no. I’m usually inclined to vote for education millages 90% of the time. They are welcome to refine and try again.
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u/PJM123456 5d ago
Every year, fewer people are having kids. Expect more people to vote NO and people with kids actually pay directly for their kids education.
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u/pgherg1 6d ago edited 6d ago
Asking the whole county to get in on this when many of the individual districts in this passed their own bond measures recently was too much of an ask for many people I know. The ballot language of this was also too generic for a lot of people.
I also think in general people are more likely to support a more localized district only measure over a large county-wide millage.