Andrea Ballard, principal/superintendent, North Star

MARQUETTE — North Star Montessori Academy will have to figure out how to deal with an estimated loss of $120,000 after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently vetoed an allowance increase for charter schools.

In an Oct. 1 Detroit Free Press story, it was stated that Whitmer vetoed a $35 million foundation allowance increase for charter schools, which are championed by both the DeVos family and many Republicans over traditional public schools.

“She’s using the budget and these cuts in funding education as political ploys, I would say, so our kids are caught in the crosshairs of these political battles,” said Andrea Ballard, principal/superintendent at North Star, located at 3030 Wright St. in Marquette Township.

Ballard noted Whitmer increased the funding only for traditional schools.

“That leaves us short about $240 per student,” Ballard said. “As a public charter school, the only money that we receive for operational costs comes through our per-pupil funding. That definitely affects our operating budget and what we have planned for our students this year, so those dollars directly affect teacher salaries, keeping the lights turned on, providing transportation — all those things that we use on a daily basis.”

Because North Star doesn’t have defined boundaries, Ballard said the school can’t go after a millage or ask for tax dollars.

“We only have this money to spend, as well as any grant money that we can come across,” Ballard said.

North Star, she noted, is not a for-profit charter school, with Northern Michigan University holding its charter.

Thus, North Star has twice the amount of accountability practices, Ballard said, since it has to answer to the Michigan Department of Education as well as NMU.

“I think the greatest misconception comes when our legislators say they want equal funding and transparency for charter schools, but what they don’t understand is they’re looking at for-profit charter schools,” Ballard said.

North Star, she stressed, is a public school academy and doesn’t have a management company.

“Myself and our office staff are the only ones that work here to support this school and keep it afloat,” Ballard said. “Our teachers get paid drastically less than any teachers in the surrounding district because we don’t have the funding to provide that for them, but they show up every day and they work just as hard and just as diligently as any teacher in our community.”

North Star is for students in preschool through 12th grade.

Ballard also is worried about the message the budget sends to some students.

“What concerns me is that by doing this, our governor is saying that some of our children deserve equal funding and some do not,” she said, “and I think that’s a really hard pill to swallow as a educator and as a school leader.

“I believe that all children are eligible for equal funding, and they all should have the same rights, and that kids should be able to pick and choose the schools that they go to.”

Ballard noted different children require different educational approaches.

“Not all children fit that mold of traditional public school,” she said. “Now, I do believe that all of our schools in this area are great. However, I believe that some children need a different environment for learning.”

Ballard said the school will have to “be creative” when dealing with the loss of roughly $120,000.

“We’re going to look at cutting corners as much as possible without impacting the education of our students,” Ballard said.

Concerns about the budge have been expressed elsewhere.

“These are real cuts, real kids,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, in the Free Press article, which also stated about 150,000 children attend charter schools in Michigan, many of them in Detroit and other non-affluent areas.

Whitmer spokeswoman Tiffany Brown did not answer directly when asked whether the governor targeted rural and Republican causes, according to the article.

“The budgets Republicans sent to Gov. Whitmer were a mess,” Brown was quoted as saying. “The line-item vetoes … will help keep our families and communities safe and help Michiganders access critical services that they rely on every day.”

Ballard requested the community’s help for North Star.

“I just ask that our community of parents and educator speak out for our children, and let their voices be heard that this is not OK and it’s not fair to our kids,” Ballard said.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.