When it comes to student learning, money matters, . But what matters even more, those same experts say, is how that money is spent鈥攁nd the vast majority of K-12 dollars today are spent in very outdated, inefficient ways.
This has frustrated teachers, district officials, and state politicians who in many states have called for complete overhaul of their states鈥� spending methods. But replacing a state鈥檚 funding formula is both complicated and politically contentious, and past efforts, for a variety of reasons, have fallen flat in many states.
This year is different, or so advocates hope. It鈥檚 an off-election year, some states, including Kansas, Wisconsin and Idaho, have huge surpluses, and teachers across the nation are demanding state politicians provide higher pay and more school resources. That makes for the right political climate to push through a funding formula, school finance experts say.
So what could be some of the hot spots this year as legislatures and governors get down to the business of how to best allocate billions of dollars in K-12 funding? Here are a few states to watch:
- Idaho: Earlier this month, legislators from both chambers convened at the state capitol in Boise to hear a two-hour presentation from the state鈥檚 top legislators that detailed a new school funding formula. The would replace a formula created more than 20 years ago and instead distribute money to districts based on how many students are enrolled in their schools. Many students in the mostly rural state today attend a charter school, a local community college or are home-schooled, something that the existing funding formula doesn鈥檛 account for. The new formula, being championed by newly elected Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, is already getting pushback from some districts that stand to lose millions of dollars under the plan.
- Kansas: For years, Kansas has been mired in a legal battle over the logistics of its funding formula. The state鈥檚 supreme court has repeatedly said the state has failed to provide an adequate amount of money for its schools and distributes that money to districts in an inequitable way. The legislature鈥檚 attempt last year to provide its schools with $548 million more over the next five years was , the supreme court said. The justices gave the state another year to come up with more money or face sanctions. The most-recent estimate is that the state needs to provide $360 million over the next four years. Newly elected Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, wants to provide $90 million more next year to schools, but plans to refinance the state鈥檚 pension system in order to do so, a strategy her opponents say is built on a 鈥渉ouse of cards.鈥� The state鈥檚 legislature is expected to draw up an entirely new funding formula to replace the existing one, which legislators say will save the state money and cut taxes for residents. At issue is what to do with $900 million surplus found in the state鈥檚 budget.
- Maryland: Maryland actually has one of the nation鈥檚 newest funding formulas and features many of the things advocates in other states want to replicate. Established in 2002, the formula provides more money to schools that serve at-risk students, such as those with special needs and poor students. But a task force led by former University of Maryland Chancellor William E. Kirwan has said that the way the state funds its schools still leaves certain student groups with fewer resources than other students. Among the findings, for example, is that the more black students attending a school, the less funding the school can expect to receive. While the legislature tried to delay for another year the commission鈥檚 final report, Kirwan, in a to the legislature last week, said the state needs to provide more than $3.8 billion to its schools over the next decade in order to provide its students with an adequate education. 鈥淭his is a really critical moment for our state,鈥� Kirwan said. 鈥淲e can continue making incremental changes on, quite frankly, our mediocre status or we can be bold and change the future of our children and our state.鈥� The NAACP and ACLU followed that presentation with a strongly-worded letter to Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, urging the state to adopt the commission鈥檚 recommendations. The two organizations successfully sued the state in 2000 over the way it funds its schools.
- Massachusetts: Massachusetts has gotten lots of praise for its efforts a quarter century ago to upend the way it distributes K-12 funds and holds schools accountable. It鈥檚 the reason why, many policy makers and researchers say, the state consistently lands at the top of national academic rankings, including 澳门跑狗论坛鈥榮 annual Quality Counts. But within Massachusetts, frustration has built in recent years over that very funding formula, which many educators say leaves schools serving its most at-risk populations without the necessary resources to provide an adequate education. A 2015 study showed that the state is underfunding the state鈥檚 public schools by $1 billion. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, has proposed that would provide an additional $1.1 billion to schools over the next five years. It has backing this year from Boston鈥檚 mayor, the state鈥檚 teachers union, and several other school advocates.
- New Mexico: Last year, a New Mexico district judge ruled that the state doesn鈥檛 provide enough money to its schools to provide an adequate education for low-income children, English-language learners, Native American students, and students with disabilities. The state has until April 15, a month after the state鈥檚 legislative session ends, to prove to District Judge Sarah Singleton that it has made improvements to its system. She did not specify how much the state needs to provide schools. Recently elected Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said this month , including boosting teacher pay by 6 percent and increasing the state鈥檚 K-12 spending by more than $500 million.
- Nevada: School finance experts recommend state funding formulas to be replaced once every decade, even though most states鈥� funding formulas are more than 20 years old. Nevada鈥檚 funding formula was established in 1967 and is, arguably, one of the nation鈥檚 oldest. The state evenly divies up money between its 11 counties. But that money is too little, and fails to account for the different needs of student groups such as students with special needs and English-language learners, advocates say. 鈥淭he funding formula is equitable because everyone is actually equally poor,鈥� Michelle Alejandra Booth, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Educate Nevada Now said in an interview with 澳门跑狗论坛. A new funding formula by recently elected Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, that would result in, among other things, a 3 percent raise for the state鈥檚 K-12 teachers, and more money for supplies, higher education, new buildings, scholarships, and increased school safety. But the proposal is already getting pushback from the rural districts that would stand to lose money. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not beneficial to Elko at this point from the numbers they have given us,鈥� Elko County Superintendent Todd Pehrson last week. 鈥淗owever, there are a million uncertainties out there.鈥�
- Texas: The state has long been known for the way it takes money from its oil-rich school districts and gives it to its resource-poor districts, what鈥檚 commonly referred to as the 鈥淩obin Hood鈥� effect. The Texas supreme court that, while the state doesn鈥檛 provide enough money for its schools to provide an adequate education, it isn鈥檛 the court鈥檚 place to tell the legislature how to spend its money. Last week, the state鈥檚 House of Representatives and replace it with one that would be heavily reliant on state funds instead of local funds. It would ultimately provide schools with $9 billion more over the next two years. The proposal would also result in decreased property taxes for many of the state鈥檚 citizens, something the state鈥檚 Republican Party has promised to do for several years. The state Senate is expected to release a plan of its own in the coming weeks. A committee tasked with coming up with a new funding formula declined late last year to provide a price tag for a new funding formula in order to avoid a legal battle with the courts.
- Wisconsin: Newly elected Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, won partly based on a new funding formula he floated on the campaign trail that would pump more than $1.4 billion into schools over the next two years. The state鈥檚 Republican-controlled legislature has promised to propose a separate school spending plan of its own. But Evers recently after a bipartisan, blue-ribbon panel came out with recommendations that effectively said Evers is right: the state鈥檚 schools are severely underfunded. Among its recommendations is that the state provide significantly more money schools to serve students with special needs, English-language learners, and low-income students. The state has a , but its residents have been historically hostile toward taxes.