Legislature Could Replace 30-Year-Old School Funding Formula

In the Beginning

In 1985, Georgia’s governor was Joe Frank Harris; Ronald Regan was president; and the song “Take on Me” by A-ha topped Billboard’s Hot 100. 1985 was also the year Georgia created a school funding formula called Quality Basic Education (QBE).

“The then-governor, Joe Frank Harris, convened a task force and they spent a considerable amount of time looking at the cost of providing quality education to Georgia students and to meet the standards that were in place then,” said Claire Suggs, a policy analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

According to Suggs, the QBE figures out how much it costs to pay for a classroom full of kids. The state is supposed to then pay that amount of money to schools.

It’s like figuring out what your living expenses are, and then getting a paycheck that covers them. But what happens when your expenses go up and your paycheck doesn’t?

Suggs says that’s kind of what happened with QBE. That’s why you might hear lawmakers and educators echo this claim about QBE:

“It was outdated the minute it was passed because it’s never been fully funded,” state schools Superintendent Richard Woods said at a conference last year.

Growing Pains

Lawmakers have long struggled with the QBE. The formula’s math usually called for more money than what was allotted in the state’s budget.

Claire Suggs said the state initially funded the formula, but had trouble keeping up.

“We have not adjusted the QBE for inflation the way we are supposed to,” she said.

That meant some school districts were not getting the money the formula promised.

For years, lawmakers have talked a lot about revising the QBE, and have even formed a study committee. But this year, Gov. Deal has a firm proposal in hand. Former University of Georgia President Charles Knapp chaired the commission Deal put together. He said the governor asked the group to come up with a “student-based” formula.

“You allocate funds based on the number of students in your district, but then you ‘weight’ them based on characteristics,” Knapp said.

Characteristics like poverty, taking gifted classes or learning English as a second language are all “weighted” – meaning they get more money.

It’s like getting your paycheck and then figuring out what you can afford. Can you pay for the premium cable package – or should you buy the basic one?

An Uncertain Future

Knapp has heard the critics who have said the new proposal doesn’t solve the problem. There just is not enough money dedicated to education, they have said, and the new funding idea still does not adjust for inflation.

But Knapp says the commission had to work within a set budget of $8.5 billion.

“It would be nice if there were unlimited resources and the weights generated much more money than they do, but what we’re trying to do is make sure the funds the governor and the General Assembly allocate are spent as efficiently as possible,” he said.

Gov. Deal has not said publicly which recommendations – if any – he will present to lawmakers this election year. Whatever he proposes will likely stir a heated debate.

If legislators do not pass a new formula this year, QBE will stay in place – leaving Georgia’s education budget stuck in 1985.