The bill amends the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" to revise the formula for calculating permanent foundation education aid for school districts. The amendments include the addition of a new subsection (a)(3) to Section 16-7.2-3, which establishes an amount to support school districts with students residing in housing taxed in accordance with § 44-5-13.11. This amount is determined by multiplying a housing factor of 40% by the core instruction per-pupil amount and applying it to all resident children in such housing. The bill also modifies the state's share calculation in Section 16-7.2-4 by adding the percentage of students residing in housing taxed in accordance with § 44-5-13.11 to the formula. The bill removes the word "and" before the mention of high-need students in Section 16-7.2-3(a) to accommodate the insertion of the new support amount.

Additionally, the bill outlines the responsibilities of the department of elementary and secondary education, including providing estimates of foundation education aid costs, reporting updated figures based on average daily membership, and evaluating the number of multilingual learner students. The department is also tasked with developing alternatives to identify students whose family income is at or below 185% of federal poverty guidelines. A new poverty measure will be implemented starting in fiscal year 2024, using participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) as a determinant. The bill establishes a poverty loss stabilization fund for districts that experience a significant decline in their state share ratio. The act will take effect upon passage and apply to all school years commencing on or after July 1, 2024.