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S 2826Funding & Budget

Education - The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act

This bill increases state education funding for schools with many low-income students and improves how those students are counted.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation updates the "Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" to increase state funding for public schools with high populations of low-income students. Specifically, it raises the funding weight (the amount of extra money provided per student) for students in poverty from 40% to 45%. For school districts where more than 45% of children live in poverty, this weight increases further to 50%. The bill also mandates better data coordination between state agencies to accurately identify eligible students using SNAP and Medicaid records, ensuring funding is distributed based on accurate, up-to-date economic data.

For younger readers

This new law helps schools get more money from the state government. It is designed to help schools that have many students whose families do not have a lot of money. The law changes the math used to decide how much money each school gets, giving extra cash to the schools that need it the most. It also makes sure the government uses the right lists to count exactly how many students need this extra help. The goal is to make sure every student has what they need to learn, no matter where they live.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Public School StudentsLow-Income FamiliesSchool AdministratorsTaxpayersMultilingual Learners
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Directly addresses systemic inequity by directing significantly more financial resources to school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty, ensuring that the most vulnerable students receive greater support.
  • Improves the accuracy of identifying high-need students by utilizing direct certification through SNAP and Medicaid data, preventing low-income children from falling through the cracks due to administrative hurdles.
  • Acknowledges the compounding effect of concentrated poverty by creating a higher funding tier (50%) for districts where nearly half the student body is low-income, rather than treating all districts the same.
  • Relies on federal poverty guidelines and benefit enrollment which may still exclude "working poor" families who earn slightly above the cutoff but still struggle financially.
  • While the percentage increase is a step forward, it may not fully cover the actual cost of providing equitable education in under-resourced communities compared to wealthier districts.
  • The timeline for full implementation of the new data matching systems extends over several years, potentially delaying the full benefit of accurate counting for current students.
For Conservatives
  • Enhances fiscal responsibility by requiring rigorous data matching with government assistance programs (SNAP/Medicaid) to verify eligibility, reducing the likelihood of fraud or funding based on inaccurate self-reporting.
  • Mandates reports on the validity of high-cost special education data, promoting accountability and scrutiny regarding how expensive services are categorized and billed.
  • Requires the department to report on local compliance with funding contribution laws, ensuring that cities and towns are meeting their own financial obligations rather than relying solely on the state.
  • Increases state government spending by raising the funding formula multipliers, resulting in a higher burden on state taxpayers to subsidize specific school districts.
  • Expands the administrative state by mandating coordination between multiple government agencies and creating new reporting requirements, likely requiring more government employee hours.
  • Redistributes wealth from wealthier areas to poorer districts without necessarily tying the increased funding to specific performance metrics or academic improvements.

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.