One of my favorite music artists, John Prine, once wrote a song with the refrain, “It don’t make much sense that common sense don’t make no sense no more.”

That is about the only rational thing I can say about the current state of politics. The most recent example is the record-setting orgy of excess that recently concluded the 99th session of the Michigan Legislature.

For the third time in as many years the Legislature refined the school accountability measurement system by adopting an A-F formula that will give schools letter grades on their performance on standardized tests.

And the Legislature diverted more funds from the School Aid Fund to repair potholes and finance environmental cleanup. This diversion ‒ more than $140 million immediately and growing to nearly $180 million on an annual basis ‒ brings this year’s total to more than $1 billion when added to the $908 million already being taken from our K-12 classrooms to finance higher education.

Source: Opinion | It’s time for less testing, more funding for Michigan schools | Bridge Magazine