Talking School Money at Education Conference

U.P. teachers and students talk out their worries about school funding with Lansing today.

They were in Marquette for the annual U.P. Education Legislative Summit.

Teachers and school administrators talked with Ishpeming State Senator Mike Prusi, and state Education Superintendent Mike Flanagan, via video-conference.

A major concern — state funding for schools is likely to be cut by $218 per student in the new budget.

A joint House and Senate committee made the funding cut.

This could hurt many schools, especially with the school year already underway.

While stimulus money could prevent deeper cuts than that this year, they’re likely to be larger next year unless there’s some sort of reform.

Students from around the U.P. also got to present classroom technology projects and demonstrations at the summit.

The Robotics Club from Kingsford showed off a robot that they built, and Marquette students used computer skills to enter a contest on global solutions to classroom problems.

This was the first time area students got to showcase technology at the annual event.