Changing State’s School Funding Formula Could Take A While
During this legislative session, Georgia lawmakers hope to redo the way the state funds public schools. But, it may take a while to overhaul the 30-year-old formula.
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It’s called the Quality Basic Education formula, or QBE, and it hasn’t changed much since its development in 1985. Claire Suggs is a policy analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. She broke down the QBE into three parts at a recent symposium.
“The first is the number of full time equivalent students,” she said. “How many students are in each school in each district?” The second part is class size.
“Class size is going to determine the number of teachers that you have,” Suggs said. “And then finally, you have to pay those teachers, so it’s teacher salary, which is dependent on their education levels and their years of experience.”
The formula also covers a few other things, such as instructional materials and staff positions. But it lacks funding for key programs, such as technology.
“It was outdated the minute it was passed because it’s never been fully funded,” said new state schools superintendent Richard Woods. A lot of lawmakers agree with him; QBE hasn’t kept up with inflation.
A legislative committee has recommended several changes, including adding tech funding and school counselors.
However, overhauling such a large and aging formula could take some time. Some officials say it will take until 2016 to complete the process.
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