In the wake of budget cuts affecting schools in Michigan, the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District (ISD) Board of Education has adopted a Save Our Students, Save Our Schools, Save Our State (SOS) resolution in support of funding for education.

Endorsement of the resolution came during the board’s November meeting.

The resolution “encourages the governor and legislature to immediately find the revenues necessary to reduce the cuts to the education budget to meet their Constitutional responsibility to the children of this state.”  It also “encourages the governor and legislature to look beyond the immediate revenue shortfall and focus on the perennial and structural deficit that plagues school finance in Michigan.”

Adoption of the resolution follows action by the Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA), Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), and Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO) to create a special task force, The SOS Task Force – Save Our Students, Save Our Schools, Save Our State – to help districts weather the storm.

According to a news release from the MASB, “The task force, comprised of association staff, school board members, superintendents, business officials and other stakeholders, will work to improve how schools are funded in Michigan, while trying to find ways reduce costs.”

The news release describes the task force as “a collaborative effort between the three associations” and reports that Tom White, former executive director of MSBO, has been appointed to lead the cause.

White is quoted as saying, “We’ll look at new ways to save costs while trying to change and improve education for our students.  However, our legislature can and must do a better job of providing stable and reliable funding.  Cutting hundreds of dollars per pupil from our budgets after the school year has begun hurts students, parents and our schools.  It doesn’t make sense.  We’re sensitive to the state’s budget situation but we also believe we need to fix the problem systemically, not just argue endlessly about it and cut budgets late in the year.”

For more information about SOS Michigan, go to www.sosmichigan.org.