4 minute read
A+ Education Partnership - It's Time to Modernize Alabama's School Funding Formula.
Corinn O’Brien, Vice President of Policy, A+ Education Partnership
At A+ Education Partnership, we often hear from school leaders that the Foundation Program, our current school funding formula, is inadequate, inequitable, and confusing. And we totally agree. When it passed in 1995, the Foundation Program was similar to other funding formulas being used by states around the country. But since then, over 41 states have moved to a student-weighted formula, which is a more modern way of allocating state funding. We believe it’s time for Alabama to join those other states and modernize our state funding formula by adopting a student-weighted formula.
Even though Alabama made progress on the 2022 NAEP results, only 51% of kids can read on grade level, and only 29% can do math on grade level. In efforts to change this, our state leaders have made record investments and reforms over the past few years, including the Literacy Act, Numeracy Act, and Principal Leadership and Mentorship Act. While we are confident that these reforms will increase the number of students who are prepared for college and the workforce, these efforts will not go as far as they could without modernizing our state funding formula. Instead of addressing symptoms, it’s time to address the root cause. As a leader in your school, we know that you want what’s best for your students. You have likely wanted more funding and resources, particularly for students who face greater challenges, like living in poverty, living with a disability, or speaking a different language. Schools in communities with greater concentrations of poverty or those in rural communities experience unique challenges that require more funding and resources to address. Potentially, you have been frustrated that you and your district don’t have greater autonomy to make decisions about how state funding is spent. You may also want more information about school funding and more transparency about how it works in our state. These are all the things that we want, too. And they are all possible with a new student-weighted funding formula.
The formula that Alabama has used to fund schools for the past thirty years is not providing the funding students need to reach their full potential. Alabama’s current Foundation Program distributes money to districts based on an estimated number of resources needed to educate the average student. This formula does not account for the differences in students and what they need to thrive.
A student-weighted formula would fund districts based on the needs of the actual students in their schools, not an average or ideal. Every child is different, and some children need more help to be successful. We need to fund schools based on their unique needs. By taking student-specific needs into account through a student-weight formula, schools will finally begin to meet the mandate of preparing every child for a competitive, fast-changing world.
Every student deserves to have a high-quality teacher, healthy meals, a safe building, and a supportive environment to learn in. A studentweighted formula would provide greater opportunities for every Alabama child to lead a successful life.
How can I learn more about school funding reform in Alabama?
Beginning in March, A+ Education Partnership and Every Child Alabama, our new statewide coalition, will be launching the Every Dollar Counts Learning Series, which is a 7-part learning series designed to help Alabamians understand how schools are funded and what we can do to improve the adequacy and equity in our funding formula so that our schools and students have access to the resources that they need to succeed. Sign up for the Gist to receive updates on the Every Dollar Counts series.
About A+
A+ Education Partnership is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works both in the statehouse and the schoolhouse to support state leaders, educators, and students to improve student outcomes. In addition to our advocacy work, we have two programs, A+ College Ready and the Alabama Best Practice Center. Together, we can build an Alabama where every child receives a world-class education.
