School Funding Changes

In 1994, Michigan voters approved Proposal A, revamping state funding of K through 12 education. Voters reduced property taxes, increased sales tax to 6% and created a new state education funding allowance process. This replaced the old method which allowed each community to locally fund their own school district.

As part of this new method, except for capital improvements, voters can no longer choose to increase district funding through a new millage or property tax. The state now regulates each district's per pupil allowance and unfortunately each district is not the same.

Unintended Consequence

Districts like Huron Valley have been dramatically impacted by Proposal A. In addition to Huron Valley, a number of districts were below the state average per pupil allowance in 1994 and for those districts a perpetual funding gap has existed.

Worse yet, an unintended consequence of proposal A was to eliminate the option for districts to request their residents vote to close that funding gap. Add a challenging Michigan economy for the past 15 years and the Huron Valley School district is left struggling to simply fund core curriculum.

Enter HVEF

As the saying goes, "grant me the courage to change the things I can, the patience to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference." Parents, community leaders and educators got together. They knew they could not quickly change Proposal A or the new impact it had on school funding, but they could have a direct impact on improving the learning experiences for our children in our very own community. 

HVEF was founded in 1996 to generate and distribute financial resources to benefit every child in Huron Valley through support of innovative and creative programs.