Louisiana’s top education official is recommending that the lawmakers approve a recurring funding increase for schools.
Under the proposal, public schools would receive $47 more per student — almost a 50% bump — to pay for employee health insurance, retirement contributions and fuel. If approved, it would be the first increase since 2008.
Superintendent Cade Brumley told school board members the state would contribute about $30 million more next fiscal year toward those expenses, but will still send less money to schools overall because of declining enrollment.
School leaders have been sounding the alarm for years about inflation and the impact of declining enrollment on fixed costs, since schools are funded on a per-pupil basis. The increase in funding to cover mandatory expenses is something they have long pushed for.
It’s the only change Brumley is recommending to Louisiana’s funding formula this year that would affect all schools. The state’s school funding task force and board of education advanced the plan this week. By law, it must be sent to the legislature by March 15.
Lawmakers can approve or reject the recommendation, but not amend it. If they vote it down or don’t take it up, the old version of the formula remains in place.
“The last few years, we have made recommendations to the legislature that haven’t been approved,” Brumley said. “Often they haven’t been considered.”
This year’s proposal is pragmatic, he said. Board members backed the approach.
“I would like this body to have the opportunity for something to be passed,” said Kevin Berken, head of the board’s school funding task force. “In my opinion, this is the best avenue.”
The state’s department of education expects public school enrollment to fall by 12,000 to 13,000 students next fiscal year, due to outmigration and lower birth rates. Private school enrollment has also been declining.
Because schools receive funding per student, state spending is expected to decrease by about $42 million, Brumley said. That more than covers the projected $30 million increase for mandatory expenses.
Other parts of the formula have also been stagnant for years, and outside groups are investigating how much more money they believe schools should be getting.
Brumley said as a result, schools could see “more substantive shifts” in funding over the next few years.
Gov. Jeff Landry’s executive budget includes one-time funding for several education programs the legislature has paid for outside of the formula in recent years.
Those include:
-$30 million for tutoring
-$17.5 million to compensate teachers in hard-to-fill roles, for merit-based pay and to reward teachers who mentor other teachers
-$2 million for internships and apprenticeships
The state’s school board voted to send a resolution to the legislature supporting these items, as well as another calling on it to approve Landry’s request to double funding for the state’s new voucher program, which gives parents money to spend on private school tuition and other expenses. Brumley also supports the increase.
Last year, the Senate blocked Landry’s bid to expand the program. Its Republican leader, Cameron Henry, said last week at a Baton Rouge Press Club meeting that he still isn’t on board, citing cost concerns and the lack of evidence that voucher programs lead to better outcomes for kids.
How the formula works
Louisiana’s school funding formula — known as the Minimum Foundation Program — is deliberately complex, officials say, to distribute funding more equitably. Schools receive most of their state funding through the formula.
For example, students with special needs receive more state funding, and districts with higher local tax revenue get less support because they have more resources to draw on locally.
The base amount per student has been $4,015 since the 2019 school year.
Brumley, who has been superintendent since June 2020, has never recommended an increase in that amount, known as Level I funding.
“I didn’t feel it was the appropriate thing to do,” he told board members this week, because of the $4 billion in funding Louisiana schools received in federal relief.
Brumley said the state has continued to pay for some of the extras the money bought, like tutoring programs. The funding boost and the state’s academic gains have caused some to ask whether the state needs to increase spending on schools.
“To me, there’s a mismatch somewhere that schools just aren’t being fully funded,” board member Conrad Appel said as part of the discussion around the superintendent’s funding proposal.
Brumley said there’s no doubt schools are feeling the impact of federal funding being cut off. But stressed that the department’s responsibility is to look at the “minimum” the state is required to provide.
Will teachers get raises?
In recent years, governors have included funds for teacher stipends in their budgets, rather than asking lawmakers to fund permanent pay raises through the state’s formula.
School leaders tend to dislike this workaround because it isn’t money they can plan for in the long term, while the legislature has suggested it prefers this option because it allows them to revisit the cost each year.
This time, state officials are asking voters to amend the state constitution to fund a permanent $2,250 salary increase for teachers and a $1,125 increase for support staff.
The amendment would dissolve several education trust funds and use that money to pay down debt in the state’s teachers’ retirement system. That will save districts money the will then be required to spend on a permanent salary increase.
Voters rejected a similar measure when it was packaged with other changes in 2025. The proposed amendment will be on the ballot this May.
