The bill amends the Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act to establish a permanent foundation education aid formula starting in the 2012 fiscal year. This formula includes a core instruction amount based on statewide per-pupil expenditure, multiplied by the district's average daily membership, excluding charter and state-operated school students. It introduces a new method for calculating the number of students from low-income families, using SNAP participation and a multiplier of 1.6, and applies a student success factor of 25% for each multilingual learner and each child from a low-income family. The bill requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide estimates of foundation education aid costs, report updated figures, promulgate regulations, evaluate the number of multilingual learner students and those from low-income families, recommend funding solutions, and develop alternatives for identifying low-income students. It mandates annual reporting on local contributions to education aid and compliance with relevant sections. Insertions include the establishment of the permanent foundation education aid and the inclusion of categorical programs and state-funded expenses.

The bill also outlines provisions for special education students, career and technical education, pre-kindergarten programs, and stabilization funds for certain schools. It specifies that extraordinary costs for special education students are those exceeding four times the core foundation amount and addresses transportation costs for students attending out-of-district non-public schools and within regional school districts. A regionalization bonus is provided for regionalized school districts, with a decreasing percentage of state share over the first two fiscal years and ceasing in the third year. The bill includes a deletion of a section regarding additional state support for English learners, which previously outlined a 15% EL factor applied to the core-instruction per-pupil amount. It also provides state support for school resource officers, with reimbursement for half the cost of salaries and benefits for qualifying positions established after July 1, 2018, and sets specific eligibility criteria for schools based on enrollment numbers. The bill will take effect upon passage.