VLCT Opposes the Task Force’s Reverse Foundation Formula (so-called Cost Equity Formula)

Excerpt from 12-10-2021 VLCT Testimony to the Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report

The proposed cost equity approach in the draft report contemplates instituting categorical funding
categories to address poverty, rurality, middle and high school as well as English Language Learners. The difficulty with this approach is that each year, a new calculation would need to be made. Each year that calculation would be ripe for debate as not only cost factors change, and as the draft report mentions, the question of how much is left for base funding per pupil is debated, but also as statutory changes are made to the programs and legislative appetites for keeping financial support sufficient over time is likely to falter, particularly in lean times.