New school funding formula is debated
BOISE — On Thursday, legislators at a rare joint House and Senate Education Committee meeting discussed the new public school funding formula that would change the way local school districts and charters are funded.
Members of the Interim Public School Funding Formula Committee proposed the new mathematical formula that would change the funding system from a resource-allocation to a student-centered, local control formula.
The current education funding formula is based on student attendance and allows the state to control where money is spent in each school district and charter. The proposed formula, however, is based on student enrollment and will give the control to school districts and charters to decide where that money is spent.
“(School districts and charters) will be able to dedicate resources to where they know their greatest local and unique needs are,” Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said in an email after the meeting.
The Interim Public School Funding Formula Committee has been working on a new formula since 2016. The interim committee collaborated with the Education Commission of the States (ECS) a year ago to find a better way to distribute funding and create a new education formula.
“We are doing so many things differently in education and I think that’s such a positive thing. But we don’t want something like how we distribute the state funds to be a hindrance to the innovation that’s happening in our schools,” Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian said at the joint hearing.
The ECS is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization that helps states create a better education policy. Emily Parker and Michael Griffith of ECS worked with the committee to aid them particularly in school funding.
In the past year, the interim committee and ECS held public meetings, online surveys and met with individuals and groups to determine problems within different school districts and charters across the state.
House Speaker, Rep. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, walked the legislators through the formula with an example that demonstrated the formula’s funding distribution and adjustments.
“I hope members of the committee are starting to get a feel for just how powerful a tool this is and how many decisions are left to be made,” said House Speaker Bedke.
Speaker Bedke told the joint committee that there are important adjustments made in the calculations. For instance, the small school, small district adjustment allows for schools that have below 870 students in secondary and 330 in elementary education to receive more funding.
“Each time you gain a kid, you actually gain funding. Under your current system, it is possible to gain student but not any more money,” Griffith said.
It was made clear, though, the hard work is not done. The formula developed by the interim committee is a tool for the education committee members to utilize for potential changes in funding as they work during this legislative session.
Rep. Horman said in an email that there are legislators, superintendents and business managers from around the state working on drafting a bill based on the interim committee’s recommendation. Once the bill is completed, it will go through the House and Senate Education Committee meetings where more adjustments and changes are expected to happen.
“We expect great budget stability moving ahead, as districts know their student demographics better than anyone else and will be able to estimate future revenue in a way they are unable to do now,” Rep. Horman said.
Cheyenna McCurry is a legislative intern with the James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research in Boise, and a student in the University of Idaho School of Journalism and Mass Media.