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H 8159Funding & Budget

Education - The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act

This bill increases state funding for schools by raising the aid calculation factor for students from low-income families.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee House Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the "Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" to increase state financial aid for public schools. Specifically, it raises the "student success factor"—a multiplier used in the funding formula for students from low-income families—from 40% to 45%. Furthermore, for school districts where more than 45% of children live in poverty, this factor increases to 50%. The bill also mandates that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education submit various reports regarding data accuracy for poverty measures, special education costs, and local funding contributions to ensure fiscal accountability.

For younger readers

This law changes how the state gives money to public schools. It focuses on helping schools that have many students whose families do not have a lot of money. The state uses a math formula to decide how much extra help these schools need. This law changes the math so that these schools get more money than they did before to help students learn. It also asks the people in charge of education to double-check their numbers to make sure the money is going to the right places.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Low-income studentsPublic school districtsTaxpayersDepartment of Elementary and Secondary EducationSchool committees
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Significantly increases funding for public schools with high concentrations of poverty, directly addressing systemic economic inequality and providing more resources for disadvantaged students.
  • Recognizes that districts with extreme poverty rates (over 45%) require even higher levels of support (a 50% factor), ensuring a more robust social safety net for the most vulnerable communities.
  • Mandates improved data collection and cross-agency matching to ensure that all eligible low-income students are accurately counted and funded, preventing marginalized populations from falling through the cracks.
  • The funding increase, while positive, may be viewed as merely incremental rather than the transformative financial overhaul needed to fully rectify decades of underfunding in urban districts.
  • Relies on specific government definitions of poverty (like SNAP participation) which might still exclude undocumented families or the working poor who narrowly miss benefit thresholds.
  • Does not explicitly mandate that the additional funds be ring-fenced specifically for student support services, risking the possibility that funds could be absorbed by administrative costs rather than direct student aid.
For Conservatives
  • Implements stricter reporting and data verification requirements to ensure that taxpayer money is allocated based on accurate data rather than estimates, potentially reducing waste and fraud.
  • Maintains the requirement for reporting on local contributions, ensuring that cities and towns continue to pay their fair share rather than relying entirely on state subsidies.
  • Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to validate high-cost special education data, promoting fiscal responsibility and accountability within government agencies.
  • Increases state spending and redistributes more wealth from taxpayers to specific districts without guaranteed improvements in academic outcomes or school performance.
  • Expands the administrative state by mandating numerous new reports, studies, and inter-agency data systems, likely leading to a larger, more expensive government bureaucracy.
  • Reinforces a system of government handouts where funding is determined by poverty levels rather than merit or educational success, potentially disincentivizing efficiency in local school budgeting.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 7 additions · 1 deletion

SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-7.2-3. Permanent foundation education aid established.

(a) Beginning in the 2012 fiscal year, the following foundation education-aid formula shall take effect. The foundation education aid for each district shall be the sum of the core instruction amount in subsection (a)(1) of this section and the amount to support high-need students in subsection (a)(2) of this section, which shall be multiplied by the district state-share ratio calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-4 to determine the foundation aid.

(1) The core instruction amount shall be an amount equal to a statewide, per-pupil core instruction amount as established by the department of elementary and secondary education, derived from the average of northeast regional expenditure data for the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire from the National Center for Education Statistics

(NCES) that will adequately fund the student instructional needs as described in the basic education program and multiplied by the district average daily membership as defined in § 16-7-22. Expenditure data in the following categories: instruction and support services for students, instruction, general administration, school administration, and other support services from the National Public Education Financial Survey, as published by NCES, and enrollment data from the Common Core of Data, also published by NCES, will be used when determining the core instruction amount. The core instruction amount will be updated annually. For the purpose of calculating this formula, school districts’ resident average daily membership shall exclude charter school and state-operated school students.

(2) The amount to support high-need students beyond the core instruction amount shall be determined by:

(i) Multiplying a student success factor of forty percent (40%) forty-five percent (45%) by the core instruction per-pupil amount described in subsection (a)(1) of this section and applying that amount for each resident child whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines, hereinafter referred to as “poverty status.” By October 1, 2022, as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2024 and thereafter, the department of elementary and secondary education shall develop and utilize a poverty measure that in the department’s assessment most accurately serves as a proxy for the poverty status referenced in this subsection and does not rely on the administration of school nutrition programs. The department shall utilize this measure in calculations pursuant to this subsection related to the application of the student success factor, in calculations pursuant to § 16- 7.2-4 related to the calculation of the state share ratio, and in the formulation of estimates pursuant to subsection (b) below. The department may also include any recommendations which seek to mitigate any disruptions associated with the implementation of this new poverty measure or improve the accuracy of its calculation. Beginning with the FY 2024 calculation, students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines will be determined by participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). The number of students directly certified through the department of human services shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.6; and

(ii) Multiplying a multilingual learner (MLL) factor of twenty percent (20%) by the core instruction per-pupil amount described in subsection (a)(1) of this section, applying that amount for each resident child identified in the three lowest proficiency categories using widely adopted, independent standards and assessments in accordance with subsection (f)(1) of this section and as identified by the commissioner and defined by regulations of the council on elementary and secondary education. Local education agencies shall report annually to the department of elementary and secondary education by September 1, outlining the planned and prior year use of all funding pursuant to this subsection to provide services to MLL students in accordance with requirements set forth by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The department shall review the use of funds to ensure consistency with established best practices.

(3) In local education agencies, when over forty-five percent (45%) of resident childcare are classified as “poverty status,” the student success factor will be fifty percent (50%) by the core instruction per-pupil amount described in subsection (a)(1) of this section and applying that amount for each resident child whose family income is at or below one hundred and eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines.

(b) The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide an estimate of the foundation education aid cost as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4. The estimate shall include the most recent data available as well as an adjustment for average daily membership growth or decline based on the prior year experience.

(c) In addition, the department shall report updated figures based on the average daily membership as of October 1 by December 1.

(d) Local education agencies may set aside a portion of funds received under subsection

(a) to expand learning opportunities such as after school and summer programs, full-day kindergarten and/or multiple pathway programs, provided that the basic education program and all other approved programs required in law are funded.

(e) The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement fully the purposes of this chapter. (f)(1) By October 1, 2023, as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2025, the department of elementary and secondary education shall evaluate the number of students by district who qualify as multilingual learner (MLL) students and MLL students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines. The submission shall also include segmentation of these populations by levels as dictated by the WIDA multilingual learner assessment tool used as an objective benchmark for English proficiency. The department shall also prepare and produce expense data sourced from the uniform chart of accounts to recommend funding levels required to support students at the various levels of proficiency as determined by the WIDA assessment tool. Utilizing this information, the department shall recommend a funding solution to meet the needs of multilingual learners; this may include but not be limited to inclusion of MLL needs within the core foundation formula amount through one or multiple weights to distinguish different students of need or through categorical means.

(2) By October 1, 2024, as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2026, the department of elementary and secondary education shall develop alternatives to identify students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines through participation in state-administered programs, including, but not limited to, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), and RIteCare and other programs that include the collection of required supporting documentation. The department may also include any recommendations that seek to mitigate any disruptions associated with implementation of this new poverty measure or improve the accuracy of its calculation.

(3) The department shall also report with its annual budget request information regarding local contributions to education aid and compliance with §§ 16-7-23 and 16-7-24. The report shall also compare these local contributions to state foundation education aid by community. The department shall also report compliance to each city or town school committee and city or town council.

(4) By October 1, 2025, as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2027, the department of elementary and secondary education shall submit a report developed in coordination with the department of administration and the Rhode Island longitudinal data system within the office of the postsecondary commissioner. The report shall provide an overview of the process for matching the department of human services program participation data to the department of elementary and secondary education student enrollment records for use in the education funding formula and recommend methods to ensure consistency and accuracy in future matching processes.

(5) As part of its FY 2027 budget submission, the department shall also submit an estimate of foundation education aid that uses expanded direct certification with Medicaid matching in consultation with the Rhode Island longitudinal data system and the executive office of health and human services to identify students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines, in addition to an estimate under the current law poverty determination.

(6) By December 31, 2025, the department of elementary and secondary education shall also develop and submit a report to the governor, speaker of the house, and senate president on current and recommended processes to ensure the consistency and validity of submitted high-cost special education data from local education agencies.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.