All fantastic reasons to absolutely REFUSE to make the change on it's face.  It is a liberal politician's all-star grab bag of anti-choice pro-status-quo protections for a failing public school district.

In explaining why for the first time in his years in Lansing he was voting NO on a school aid budget west Michigan Senator Wayne Kuipers offered the following explanation:

...We make a new distinction here when it involves describing the size of a first-class district... That is a fairly significant gift for the city of Detroit, a gift in which we get nothing in return; we get no promise of clean audits, we get no promise of restructuring a very bloated central administration; we get no promise of reducing the number of collective bargaining units that currently is at about 100 districts wide; we get no deficit reduction plan, so that we know how the district is going to work its way out of their $400 million deficit.

Over the last year in anticipation of this day I have had a number of parents from the city of Detroit come in my office begging me that we not adopt a business as usual strategy, when it comes to the funding plan for the school district in the city of Detroit. Many parents over the last number of years have voted with their feet, which is evidence in the fact that the district is dropping in size from well over a 160,000 to next year likely being below 100,000. The problem is, there aren't enough options available for parents who want to exercise their right to choose a district for their kids.

By our passing this school aid budget today, we send a message to those parents that we don't care about their kids, and I think that is a terrible message for us to send. We have an opportunity to get that district's attention in a way that we never have before and we are letting that opportunity pass by.

Said better than I could ever manage myself (and emphasis mine).

And if you'll forgive my rank politicization of the issue, for the love of Pete, if you ARE going to make the change make sure you exact a heavy toll.  Make the Democrats pay through the teeth to lower the count from 100,000 students to 90K.  Or 85K.  They want this change desperately.  They'll do just about anything for it.  There is no overstating that fact.  

The sound politics of compromise demands the Senate GOP leverage that mania to repeal the MBT surcharge.  Leverage it to even the playing field for under-served school districts in other parts of the State.  Leverage it to bring additional school choice into Detroit so fewer kids are consigned to the sad fate of a regularly-failing DPS "education."  There is seemingly no end to the problems to which Lansing contributes, meaning there is no end to the real, positive differences a compromise on this issue could be used to achieve.

But compromise wasn't in the cards.  It was replaced with capitulation.  Yesterday the Senate voted on a new school aid budget that admirably increases statewide per pupil funding.  Bully on them.  Only problem, included in the legislation was a devastating change to first-class qualifications, lowering the threshold uber-dramatically from 100,000 students to 60,000.  The asking price on this sweeping, liberal, anti-accountability change?  Nothing.  The Senate GOP went along with the Democrat minority and consigned an entire new generation of Detroit kids to a dysfunctional public school system devoid of responsibility, accountability and any modicum of educational success... and they gave it to them for free.