An education advocacy group says Michigan should shield low-income students from the brunt of a potential K-12 funding cut in the coming school year instead of making an across-the-board reduction to base aid to resolve a pandemic-caused budget hole. The Royal Oak-based Education Trust-Midwest and some business and education leaders launched a campaign Tuesday to protect funding for such students as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers grapple with $1.1 billion less in the school aid fund for next fiscal year than was projected previously. The Democratic governor and Republican-led Legislature are hoping for more federal coronavirus relief funding. Advocates say if a reduction is necessary, aid for at-risk students should be protected.
Advocates: Shield poor students from pandemic budget cut
![education funding graphic](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8c1e880/2147483647/strip/true/crop/425x282+0+0/resize/880x584!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwgvu%2Ffiles%2F201703%2Feducation_funding.jpg)
flickr.com