The bill amends the Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act to update the foundation education aid formula, which determines state funding for education. It establishes a core instruction amount based on a statewide per-pupil figure, updated annually, and a supplemental amount for high-need students, calculated using a student success factor of 40% for children at or below 185% of federal poverty guidelines, determined by SNAP participation. The bill also introduces a new student success factor of 25% for multilingual learners or children within the same income threshold. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is tasked with developing a new poverty measure independent of school nutrition programs and evaluating the number of multilingual learners, recommending funding solutions, and reporting on local contributions to education aid.
Additionally, the bill addresses funding for special education, career and technical education, pre-kindergarten programs, transportation costs, and regionalization bonuses. It removes the previous provision for additional state support for English learners, now included in the high-need student category, and introduces state support for school resource officers with defined roles and eligibility criteria for reimbursement. The bill states that categorical programs will be funded according to a transition plan and will take effect upon passage. The summary does not specify insertions or deletions, but it indicates that the bill modifies the funding formula to include multilingual learners and removes separate categorical funding for these students.