The state of
Minnesota spends about 46% of its annual general fund budget on K-12 education.
Minnesota served a total of
848,031 students, of which 126,809
had special education needs during the 2013-2014 school year.
How the formula
works:
There is one large
formula the state uses to string together all the different funding
calculations it will send to a district. The first part is the general
education allowance and it’s meant to serve as a foundation for all schools.
The second half of
the large formula is for categorical aid and there are many subcategories like
transportation, capital improvement and special education. The general
education portion of the entire formula for total funds the state sends a
school, is computed by multiplying the per pupil formula allowance by adjusted
pupil units. The state calculates adjusted pupil units for a district by
multiplying the amount of students in a grade by the weight for that grade. The
special education portion of the entire formula is the sum of initial aid,
excess cost aid, and cross-subsidy reduction aid. Initial aid covers portions
of teacher salaries, classroom supplies, difference between general education
allowance and cost to the district for educating a special education child, and
summer programming for the aforementioned costs. Excess cost aid is given to a
district that have a cost to educate special needs children, after the special
education formula dollars are determined, that exceeds 4.36% of their general
aid revenue. Cross-subsidy reduction aid is an addition to the special
education part of the total formula that will only be in effect for the 2013-14
and 2014-15 school years.
Formula Redesign:
The three primary
categories will transition into a census-based calculation inclusive of pupil
count averages per district, poverty, size of district, and average cost of
educating special education students. The state will change the excess cost
calculations to be “the greater of 56 percent of the
difference between the district’s unreimbursed nonfederal special education
cost and 7 percent of the district’s general education revenue, OR 62 percent
of the difference between the district’s unreimbursed old formula special
education cost and 2.5 percent of the district’s general education revenue.” Cross-subsidy
reduction aid, created to last only 2 school years, will change to “Average Daily Membership (ADM) served times
the sum of $450 plus $400 times the district’s poverty concentration factor,
plus .008 times the district’s ADM served. The poverty concentration factor
equals the number of students eligible for free lunch plus 1⁄2 of the number
eligible for reduced price lunch divided by the district’s total enrollment.”Redesign of the pupil weights for the general allowance formula rolled out at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year and the changes to special education roll out this fall. Further complexity could be added to special education expenditure if universal pre-school legislation is enacted. This would mean three large changes to the entire K-12 education formula in less than a five-year time frame. The changes to special education expenditure calculations appear for now to be in the best interest of districts, but time will tell.
Here’s how MN stacks up to a couple of its neighbors:
Minnesota
|
Wisconsin
|
Iowa
|
|
Total K-12 Education Expenditure
|
$9,338,009,487.00
|
$5,947,372,600.00
|
$2,714,800,000.00
|
% of Total State Budget
|
46%
|
44.90%
|
41.80%
|
Special Education Expenditure
|
$1,675,740,416.19
|
$368,939,100.00
|
$340,258,865.00
|
% of Total Education Expenditure
|
17.95%
|
6.20%
|
12.53%
|
Total Student Population
|
848,031
|
874,414
|
476,245
|
Special Education Population
|
126,809
|
120,669
|
unable to locate
|
For further
reading:
House
Education Finance Committee. "Minnesota K-12 Education Finance System
Context and Overview." http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/issinfo/K12FinOverview.pdf.
Legislative Services Agency. "Overview of School
Finance in Iowa." https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/LSAReports/k12Education/SchoolAidPresentation.pdf. p 42, 47, 78.
Minnesota
House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis Department. "Financing Education
in Minnesota." http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/fiscal/files/14fined.pdf.
Minnesota
Department of Education. "Minnesota Education Statistics Summary." http://w20.education.state.mn.us/MDEAnalytics/Summary.jsp
"Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Summary of
2013 Wisconsin Act 20 Final 2013-15 Budget With Vetoes."
http://pb.dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/pb/pdf/Act_20_final_summary_2013-15.pdf.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. "Wisconsin
Public Schools at a Glance." http://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/eis/pdf/schools_at_a_glance.pdf.