School District Gives Teachers Raises, Has Deficit, Blames State that Gave Them an Extra $5 Million

School District Gives Teachers Raises, Has Deficit, Blames State that Gave Them an Extra $5 Million [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"One of the state’s larger school districts said because its teachers were underpaid it would give raises as high as 7.4 percent in 2014-15. 
But now Grand Rapids Public Schools faces a projected $8 million deficit for 2015-16.
Grand Rapids Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal points the finger at state government for not giving her district more money.
And that’s after the district received a $5.6 million increase in state dollars for the 2014-15 school year despite having 37 fewer students, according to numbers from the Michigan Department of Education.
...The average salary of Grand Rapids teachers was $51,899 in 2013-14, the most recent year for which data are available from the Michigan Department of Education.
...From 2009-13 the median household income in Grand Rapids was $39,227, and 26.8 percent of residents had incomes below the official federal poverty level.
...The Grand Rapids Public Schools said its teachers received the raises because the district didn’t have nearly as great a reduction in enrollment as anticipated..."