One of the most basic duties a state has with its education system continues to evade Mississippi.
Over the past few month legislators have been grappling with the possibility of chancing or revamping their method of providing state funds to local school districts.
Mississippi is currently spending 9.2 percent less per pupil on public education, adjusted for inflation, than it did before the Great Recession hit in 2008, according to a study by the Washington, D.C.,-based Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
But, according to the study, Mississippi is not alone. The study, comparing school year 2008 to the current school year, found that 23 states were spending less when adjusted for inflation. Nine states had deeper cuts than the Mississippi inflation-adjusted decrease of 9.2 percent.
For the current school year, $2.52 billion or about $6.8 million less is being spent on K-12 education than was spent last year. However, this year the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the funding formula that provides most of the state share of the basics to operate local school districts, is $172 million short of full funding.
Last week Rebecca Sibilia of EdBuild, a company that was appointed to research the issue for legislators, presented her ideas for a student-centered school funding formula.
Sibilia advocated a weighted system that provides every student the same base amount of funding and adds multipliers (additional funding) for students who qualify in certain categories, such as elementary students (students in early grades get more funding than high school students), special education, English language learners and poverty.
Regarding disparities in local funding amounts, Sibilia pushed for a leveling of the playing field and claimed it is state responsibility to equalize funding between high and low wealth districts. She acknowledged that the EdBuild recommendation could call for increased funding for students in poverty, and she vowed not to come back with a recommendation for less than low-income students currently receive.
One of the most interesting facts that Silvia brought up was that the Mississippi base student cost is significantly higher than that of other southeastern states. It is important to note that the base student cost is a "base" on which total funding is built and is not the same as per student funding. The base student cost is just a fraction of what many states provide their students.
On its whole the suggested weighted-system formula that EdBuild presented seems logical. However, no formula will work if it is not adequately funded.
