The bill proposes amendments to "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act," focusing on direct state funding for special education, career and technical education, pre-kindergarten programs, and transportation costs for certain students. It defines "extraordinary" special education costs as those exceeding five times the core foundation amount and tasks the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (now referred to as "the department" after the deletion of its full name) with prorating funds if necessary and collecting data on costs. The bill also introduces a regionalization bonus for public school districts that regionalize, with a decreasing bonus over three years, and increases state support for English learners by applying a ten percent factor to the core-instruction per-pupil amount. The department is given the responsibility to prorate funds for various programs if the approved costs exceed the available funding.

Furthermore, the bill adds provisions for state support for site-based reading and mathematics specialists, offering reimbursement for half the cost of salaries and benefits for three years after hiring new specialists. It sets student-to-specialist ratios for schools of different sizes and stipulates that local education agencies (LEAs) cannot receive reimbursement if they eliminate existing specialist positions to take advantage of the new provision. Schools within the same LEA are allowed to share specialists as long as they adhere to the specified ratios. The act will become effective upon passage.

Statutes affected:
69: 16-7.2-6