Michigan

Michigan’s school funding amendment is a harmful relic

Published

1 year ago

December 7, 2023

Michigan’s school funding amendment is a harmful relic

Families across the country are gaining access to more education options, thanks to new laws that allow tax dollars to follow students to the school of their choice. But not in Michigan, where families are limited in their schooling options due to a discriminatory amendment in the state’s constitution.

The state’s so-called Blaine Amendment was adopted in 1970 and aimed to prevent private schools, most of them Catholic, from competing for public funds with conventional districts. The Council Against Parochiaid, backed by teachers unions, took advantage of anti-Catholic bias to gain support for a ballot initiative that led to the amendment’s enactment. As a result, Michigan families too poor to pay for private school are left without any support. In 2021, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of five such families.

In addition to Michigan, 37 other states originally adopted Blaine amendments that prevented public dollars from funding parochial schools. But many states can no longer enforce the Blaine provisions in their constitutions due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue in 2020. In this case, the court found the Montana Constitution’s prohibition of state aid to families who send their children to private religious schools to be discriminatory. But the ruling does not apply to Michigan – its Blaine Amendment is slightly different in that it prevents public funds from following students to any private K-12 school, not just a religious one. Even though most of the state’s private schools were religious when the amendment was enacted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit did not find the amendment to be discriminatory.

That means Michigan students – especially those from low-income families – still face limited education options, even when their current school is failing them. This is despite federal tax reform that expanded the use of 529 college saving plans to K-12 private school tuition. Parents in most states can now use their tax-free savings accounts to offset the cost of a private K-12 education. But in Michigan, the anti-aid amendment prevents parents from getting state tax benefits when they use their 529 savings for private K-12 tuition.

While the state bans public funds for private K-12 schooling, it allows students to use tax dollars to attend the private colleges or private preschools of their choice. Such costs are regularly included in the state’s budget, and no one seems bothered by it. This inconsistency should raise a red flag among taxpayers who believe all students – especially those in the critical K-12 schooling years – should have the opportunity to choose the school that works best for them.

Students across the state continue to lag behind the national average in reading and math. And they have a long way to go to recover from pandemic-era school closures. Many of these students would be better served by education options outside the conventional public school system. But until lawmakers afford K-12 students the same options as preschool and college students, they will keep failing those who are most in need of support.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.

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Michigan

Mega Millions numbers for Friday, Dec. 27, 2024

Published

20 minutes ago

December 28, 2024

Press Room

Mega Millions numbers for Friday, Dec. 27, 2024

Mega Millions winning numbers are in for the Friday, Dec. 27 drawing with a jackpot that reached an estimated $1.15 billion ($516.1 million cash option).

The winning numbers for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing are: 3, 7, 37, 49 and 55. The Mega Ball is 6. The Megaplier is 3x.

Check back to see if anyone won the Mega Millions jackpot.

The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday, Dec. 31. Drawings are held at 11 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday. The jackpot will be at least $800 million ($401.8 million cash option).

How late can you buy a Mega Millions ticket?

In Michigan, in-store and online ticket sales are available until 10:45 p.m. on the night of the draw.

Mega Millions costs $2 to play.

What’s the Megaplier?

The Megaplier feature increases non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four or five times. It costs an extra $1 per play. The Megaplier is drawn on Tuesday and Friday before the Mega Millions drawing. The pool includes 15 balls. Five are marked with 2X, six with 3X, three with 4X and one with 5X.

What are the Mega Millions prizes?

Match 5 White Balls + Mega Ball: Jackpot
Match 5 White Balls: $1 million
Match 4 White Balls + Mega Ball: $10,000
Match 4 White Balls: $500
Match 3 White Balls + Mega Ball: $200
Match 3 White Balls: $10
Match 2 White Balls + Mega Ball: $10
Match 1 White Ball + Mega Ball: $4
Match Mega Ball: $2

What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?

The odds of matching the five white balls and Mega Ball to win the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.

How do I find the Mega Millions winning numbers?

You can watch Mega Millions drawing on YouTube. The winning numbers are also posted to the Mega Millions website and on the Michigan Lottery website.

What happens if I win the jackpot?

A jackpot winner has the option of taking an annuity or cash payment.

The annuity is paid out as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments, according to the Mega Millions website. Each payment is 5% bigger than the previous one.

“This helps protect winners’ lifestyle and purchasing power in periods of inflation,” according to the Mega Millions website.

The cash option is a one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.

If two or more people win the jackpot in the same drawing, the money is shared equally among all winning tickets.

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Michigan

JUST IN: Michigan gets big boost at QB ahead of ReliaQuest Bowl

Published

13 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Press Room

JUST IN: Michigan gets big boost at QB ahead of ReliaQuest Bowl

The quarterback picture for Michigan has been fluid in recent weeks, with two of the QB’s announcing they’d be entering the transfer portal. One of those quarterbacks to enter was Alex Orji. During his three year career in Ann Arbor, Orji appeared in 20 games at quarterback and made three starts during the 2024 season. But with Orji entering the portal, along with veteran QB Jack Tuttle announcing his retirement from the game during the season, there were real questions about Michigan’s QB depth heading into the Reliaquest Bowl against Alabama.

With the team now in Tampa to prepare for the matchup, a team spokesman confirmed to MLive that Orji did travel with the team and still intends on playing in the bowl game. Having Orji available is huge for a Michigan team that doesn’t have much depth or experience at the position at this point in the season.

Michigan QB Alex Orji is here in Tampa and planning to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl, team spokesman confirms to @MLive.
— Aaron McMann | MLive.com (@AaronMcMann) December 27, 2024

Although he’ll participate in the bowl game, the expectation is that Orji will still transfer in the near future. And given Michigan’s activity at that position in recent weeks (the signing of Bryce Underwood and landing veteran Mikey Keene out of the portal), it’s hard to see a scenario where Orji could make a meaningful impact at the position moving forward. There was some speculation that he may be open to making a position change, but any position he’d be moving to (tight end, linebacker, or even running back) already has guys who are well-established at the position.

But regardless of what happens in the future, there’s no question that having Orji available for the Reliaquest Bowl is huge for the Michigan Wolverines.

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

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Michigan

Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Are the Spartans Big Ten Contenders?

Published

21 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Press Room

Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Are the Spartans Big Ten Contenders?

Michigan State men’s basketball seems to be back.

For the past few years, the Spartans seemed to have fallen behind in the Big Ten, scrapping and clawing just to keep their tournament streak alive when the regular season began winding down.

It wasn’t the standard that had so long been in place for Michigan State basketball, a team that had regularly been competing for the conference title year in and year out.

Finally, it seems the Spartans may have gotten back to that point. Michigan State is currently tied for first place in the Big Ten and will likely head into 2025 11-2.

On this episode of the Michigan State Insider Podcast, our Aidan Champion and host Bryan Anthony Davis discuss whether the Spartans truly are conference contenders again.

You can watch the episode below:

Below is a partial transcript from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s opening statement from his press conference that followed the Spartans’ win over Florida Atlantic last Saturday:

Izzo: “Man, nothing’s easy. I really like that team. We said it on film. We actually did a pretty good job on a couple guys. [Baba] Miller, one. The big kid inside got in some foul trouble, did a decent job with him. I thought Jeremy [Fears Jr. ] did a hell of a job on [Leland] Walker. I really like Walker, too. But Miller is a good player. We did not do a good job on [Tre] Carroll. He was really good. And I think he is really good. I think that team has a chance to win a lot of games. This will probably be a good test for us. It wasn’t good when you’re going home for Christmas, because there was a couple sleepless nights on these guys. I told some of you I thought they were good. And yet, we started out the second half 4-of-17. Missed a gazillion layups — putbacks for Szymon [Zapala] and Jax [Jaxon Kohler], of all people. And they really — 4-of-17, I don’t know how we. I’m trying to figure out how we scored 86 points. But again, we shot pretty well from the free throw line. We offensive rebounded, we didn’t turn it over too much. I mean, it was a good win for us; I didn’t like the way it was played at all the time. I thought we got stagnant with the ball. But I was really impressed with Jeremy. And Coen [Carr] will probably never shoot another 3, so he can lead the history of Michigan State — it will be 100%. … I appreciate our fans appreciating him. And you saw our players. Last time I saw an eruption like that was when Steven [Izzo] hit a shot. That was pretty cool. I think that tells you a lot about how they feel about each other. And that was really important to me and, I think, to our coaching staff. So, Coen, no doubt, was the star of the game. Jaden came around the second half and did some good things.”

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

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