MFP Funding – The State Education Budget
After a short derailment by the Senate Education Committee, a rewritten Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula zipped through the legislative process, winning approval by the House Education Committee and House of Representatives in just a couple of days. Senate Education Committee Chairman Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) had objected to including a recurring 2.75% inflation factor in the formula. BESE’s rewritten formula deleted the inflation factor, prompting LFT President Steve Monaghan to warn that the move could lead to lower funding in the future. This is the first year since 2011 that lawmakers have successfully adopted a public education spending formula. The 2012 formula was set aside after the LFT and others challenged the way it was adopted, and last year’s legislature rejected the formula proposed by BESE.
The MFP is included in the state’s $24.6 billion operating budget. The baseline spending for each student will be $3,961. The plan includes enough money to make last year’s one-time raise for classroom teachers a permanent addition to their salaries. Read more here.