N E W S R E L E A S E
Contact: Elliot Krieger, Communications – (401) 222-8471 Embargo until: Immediate release - Friday, February 26, 2010
Commissioner Gist Releases Proposed Funding Formula for Education Aid
Formula Would Distribute Aid Based on District Capacity, Student Need
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist today (February 26) released a proposed funding formula for education aid that takes into account district capacity and student need and would provide adequate funding to educate all students in Rhode Island.
Commissioner Gist will present the proposal to the Board of Regents for endorsement at their meeting on Thursday (March 4) 5 p.m. at the John F. Horgan Elementary School, 124 Providence St., West Warwick.
"Now is the time to enact an education funding formula in Rhode Island," said Robert G. Flanders, Jr., Esq., Chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. "Our state needs a funding formula to ensure that we distribute aid based on what students need and not on what systems need. If we fail to act, we will compound the inequities in the current system."
"Supporting student achievement is our highest priority. A transparent, consistent education funding formula will allow us to ensure that student achievement remains the top priority for our state and for every school district," Commissioner Gist said. "We are confident that this funding formula will take us from being the only state without a funding formula to being the state with the best funding formula in the country."
The proposed funding formula has three key components:
- a core instruction amount ($8,295 per student) that adequately funds student instructional needs (e.g., the cost of teachers, administrators, instructional support, textbooks, equipment);
- a student success factor that provides initial funds to support student needs beyond the core services; and
- a state share ratio that considers the capacity of each district to generate tax revenue, based on property values, median family income, and the concentration of at-risk students.
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Shepard Building 255 Westminster Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903-3400
Telephone 401-222-4600
Fax 401-222-6178
TTY 800-745-5555
Voice 800-745-6575
The Board of Regents does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin, or disability
Commissioner Gist and RIDE staff members have worked with members of the General Assembly and with several nonprofit agencies on the development of a funding formula. Dr. Kenneth Wong, chairman of the Education Department at Brown University, helped RIDE develop the methodology for the formula.
If the Regents endorse the formula at their March board meeting, Commissioner Gist will continue to work with the leadership of the General Assembly on this critical issue.
For further details on the proposed funding formula, see:
A Funding Formula for Rhode Island