Critchfield unveils incremental funding formula change
A bill unveiled Friday would shift a small portion of the K-12 school budget to “per-student” funding. The bill would use student counts rather than support units as a metric for calculating discretionary funds, potentially adding $50 million to the annual allocation. Other areas of the school budget would continue to use support units.
(Photo via SHUTTERSTOCK)
State superintendent Debbie Critchfield and two lawmakers Friday unveiled a late-session proposal to shift a small portion of the K-12 school budget to “per-student” funding.
The bill would use student counts rather than support units as a metric for calculating discretionary funds, potentially adding $50 million to the annual allocation. Other areas of the school budget would continue to use support units.
It’s not the funding formula overhaul that education leaders have long called for. But it’s a “really important first step in” modernizing the formula, said Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, who co-authored the legislation with Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Critchfield, a Republican.
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