Lawmakers discuss new public school funding formula
BOISE — Legislators at a rare joint House and Senate Education Committee meeting last week 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,” said Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, 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 hinderance to the innovation that’s happening in our schools,” said Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, at the joint hearing.
The ECS is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps states create better education policy. Emily Parker and Michael Griffith of ECS worked with the state committee, particularly on 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,” Bedke said.
A news release about the joint meeting, posted Friday on the Idaho Education Association’s website, said that while being open to new and innovative funding methods for schools, the IEA, which is the state teachers union, has some concerns about the proposed formula.
“It has been positioned as a zero-sum game which would create winners and losers among districts,” said IEA President Kari Overall, in the IEA release. “But that is not necessarily true. The legislature could decide to make the necessary investment in public education so that all boats rise with the tide.”
The IEA is also concerned the new formula could negatively affect gains made for teacher compensation through the Career Ladder salary allocation plan.
“Without the structure of the Career Ladder or some other mechanism, we are concerned that allocations intended to increase pay for educators may not ultimately make it into the hands of our hard-working and dedicated teachers,” Overall said.
Bedke told the joint committee 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 students 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 use for potential changes in funding as they work during this legislative session.
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,” 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.