JACKSON — Schools are likely to seek less money from the Mississippi Legislature for the first time since the current school funding formula was created.
An early estimate of the request for the 2015 budget year shows the formula requiring $28.5 million less to reach full funding.
Lawmakers have allocated much less than full funding in recent years, in part because of the downturn in state revenues. The gap between what the formula says is an adequate amount of aid and what the Legislature budgeted for the current 2014 budget year, which began July 1, is $293 million. That gap would fall to $264 million, the Mississippi Department of Education announced Thursday.
Todd Ivey, who calculates the department’s estimates, warned that the figure could change as figures for last year’s spending are finalized.
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program formula is calculated by looking at average spending in typical districts, computing “adequate” amounts for instruction, administration, transportation and other expenses. Because state aid was cut sharply, the typical district is spending less than it was four years ago, the last time the formula was fully recalculated.
The current estimate for full funding of MAEP in 2015 is $2.35 billion, compared to the $2.38 billion that the formula demanded for the 2014 budget year, which began July 1. The 2015 figure works out to $5,055 for each Mississippi student.
Some lawmakers had expected a bigger dip than $28.5 million, maybe as much as $100 million, based on calculations Ivey had done using 2010-2011 spending. That could have cut the 2015 funding gap below $200 million without the Legislature appropriating any more money.
Ivey said that spending may have recovered somewhat in years following initial cuts. Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents’ Campaign, which lobbies for school funding, said districts may have been able to make up for some state cuts by raising local property taxes or dipping into their savings.
“It’s time for the Legislature to make a real commitment to fully funding MAEP,” Loome said. “Despite really horrible underfunding, school districts have continued to increase student achievement.”
House Appropriations Chairman Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, said the pressure for lawmakers to spend more will be high when they convene next January. The state is expected to carry forward roughly $425 million in cash reserves, but Frierson said he’s not sure how much new recurring revenue there will be, in part because increasing levels of tax cuts will kick in.
“The Legislature shot itself in the foot when it passed all the tax cuts,” Frierson said. “Now we’re finally seeing the growth and we’re not going to be able to use it.”
Interim state Superintendent Lynn House is required by law to ask for full funding of MAEP. She said she intends to consult with lawmakers about a strategy for returning to that level, which has only been reached twice, even if it takes more than one year.
“If we’re going to get to full funding, how do we start doing that in incremental phases?” House asked.
Pending approval Friday by the state Board of Education, the department’s total request for K-12 education will be $2.65 billion. That would include $16 million to make up for teacher supply money that’s being diverted into MAEP and $20 million in school building fund money being similarly diverted. It also would include an additional $5.5 million to improve reading instruction in grades K-3 and $5 million to expand the state’s prekindergarten program, which hasn’t been set up yet.
Education officials will also ask for more money to pay for attendance officers. They say the number of people keeping kids in school has fallen to 126 from the authorized 153.
