By AP
LANSING, MI – Gov. Jennifer Granholm is ordering another round of funding cuts for public schools already hard hit by Michigan's state budget problems.
The Democratic governor on Thursday ordered that school funding be slashed by $127 per student. The reduction would take effect in 30 days and would come out of a basic grant that is supposed to provide schools a minimum of $7,316 per student.
Republicans say Granholm is fabricating a school budget crisis in order to put pressure on them to increase taxes to raise more money for education.
Lawmakers and Granholm already have agreed to cut school funding by the equivalent of $165 per student. Granholm earlier this week vetoed $51 million that would go to 39 of the state's wealthier districts, saying the state can't afford the payments.