Bill > H5978

This bill modifies the Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act by changing how education funding is calculated for local educational agencies with high-poverty student populations. Specifically, the bill alters the "student success factor" - a funding mechanism that provides additional per-pupil resources for students from low-income families. Under the current law, the student success factor is 45% of the core instruction per-pupil amount for children whose family income is at or below 185% of federal poverty guidelines. The bill introduces a new provision that when over 45% of children in a local educational agency are classified as low-income, the student success factor will increase to 50% of the core instruction per-pupil amount. This change aims to provide more financial support to school districts with a high concentration of economically disadvantaged students, potentially helping to address educational inequities by allocating additional resources to schools serving communities with greater economic challenges. The bill also requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to continue evaluating and refining how poverty status is measured and reported, ensuring more accurate and responsive educational funding.

Budget and Finance

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