School funding gets final legislative approval

A nearly $3.4 billion spending plan for state public school districts received final passage from the Legislature with a unanimous Senate vote today. The 2011-12 funding formula will keep funding unchanged for another year, not providing districts with the annual 2.75% increase they had grown accustomed to receiving to cover rising health and retirement costs. But it avoids the types of cuts that have been levied across many state agencies. Lawmakers, Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state education board have said the state cannot afford an increase in such tight budget times. It’s the third year in a row the formula provides no new money. Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, says the districts are under tremendous financial pressure but that the state cannot afford to increase school spending. “I hope next year we might have better news for them and might be able to fund that 2.75% increase,” says Nevers, who handled the funding formula legislation in the Senate. The formula, called the Minimum Foundation Program, divides dollars to the 70 school districts based on the number and type of students they have and the districts’ relative wealth. The base amount will stay at $3,855 per student. Dollars allocated to the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 will increase by about $70 million, but only to account for a boost in the number of students at public schools and other technical changes to the formula.