Formula Revamp Represents an Opportunity to Make Education More Student - Centered October 31, 2016 by Grant Callen Last month it was announced that the legislature has hired the nonprofit EdBuild to review the state's
current education funding formula, which is now nearly two decades old.
Not exact matches
In revealing the new
formula,
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has said that the
current system is «outdated, inefficient and unfair» and that schools need
funding that «genuinely matches their need».
Kansas switched to a block grant in mid-2015, preventing a meaningful comparison of
current education funding with the
formula used previously.
What one
education advocate describes as a «perfect storm» over school finance is brewing in Georgia, as a top lawmaker pushes to replace local property taxes for
education with a statewide sales tax, even as the state gears up to fight a lawsuit from school districts over the
current funding formula.
The
current state
funding formula is not providing nearly enough for students to meet state
education standards, say leaders of the School Finance Research Collaborative, a statewide group that worked to determine the true cost of educating children as a way to move toward school
funding reform.
Those frustrations were visible at a recent State Board of
Education meeting, as turnaround operators offered blunt assessments of the
current state of affairs in IPS schools, while district officials unsuccessfully argued state officials»
funding formula for the takeovers is inequitable.
Current formula: The local share for school
funding is 28 mills ($ 28 for every $ 1,000 collected in local property taxes) or 27 percent of the cost of an «adequate»
education for students, whichever is less.
The hearing, held by the Assembly
Education Committee, focused on the problems associated with the
current educational
funding formula, as well as on ways in which the
funding formula can be amended to more effectively meet the needs of Wisconsin schools.
Additionally, Advance Illinois» Ostro emphasized that the distribution of these dollars for
education is also inequitable, because the
current funding formula is complex and different
funding streams work at cross-purposes.
Instead, he called out the state's
current «whimsical» and «illusory»
education funding decisions that are no longer guided by any clear rational
formula, which leaves students with similar learning needs
funded at radically different amounts based on where a student lives or the type of the type of public school a student attends.
In a recent interview with New America Media, Mike Kirst discussed the legal and political history of California's
current education finance system and how Governor Jerry Brown's proposed Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF) can more equitably allocate state funding to districts and allow them the flexibility they need to meet rising expectations of college - rea
Funding Formula (LCFF) can more equitably allocate state
funding to districts and allow them the flexibility they need to meet rising expectations of college - rea
funding to districts and allow them the flexibility they need to meet rising expectations of college - readiness.
In his January budget proposal, Brown called the
current system «complex, state - driven and administratively costly,» and pointed out that
funding for special
education is a patchwork of more than 20 programs each with its own set of
formulas and spending rules.
There will be a separate
formula for Alternative Provision based on population and deprivation, and Hospital
Education will continue to be
funded on
current spending levels until better data on hospital inpatient data can be explored.
According to JPS spokesman Sherwin Johnson, «the
current [Mississippi Adequate
Education Program]
formula uses a base student cost of $ 5,381.52; at the
current funding level... our actual
funding is at $ 4,882.77 base student cost» — a difference that puts the district $ 498.75 in the hole for every student enrolled, a deficit that runs into the millions.