State senator targets Michigan school districts with flush rainy day funds

So, some legislator wants to raid the coffers of school districts with "high fund balances". Sounds really nice on the surface until one considers that doing so is only a "one year fix" (something the legislature has turned into a science). What happens when the money is gone one year later? Then what? How about a long term plan for a change.

One of the reasons school districts have "large" fund balances is to avoid borrowing to meet short term cash shortages. (This became a systemic problem back in 1997 when then Governor Engler got the bright idea to delay state aid payments as a way to fund (yet another) tax cut.) In the long run, raiding the cash surpluses will force districts to borrow more to meet their short term obligations. And, doesn't this state already have borrowing capacity issues?

Here's what's happening. The STATE creates a crisis and then uses the crisis as a pretext to justify stripping local governments of local control.