(BATON ROUGE, LA) - Today, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) unanimously adopted a new statewide K-12 education funding formula for the 2023-24 school year. The new Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula aligns with the recommendations of the Louisiana Department of Education, addressing the key areas of educator and support staff pay, workforce development, and operational costs.
The MFP also introduces a differentiated compensation element to teacher salaries. School systems will have flexibility to pay teachers more for meeting specific needs such as teaching in critical shortage areas or high needs schools, earning highly effective ratings, or taking on additional teacher leadership roles.
“I’m pleased to see our MFP proposal move forward with a market responsive approach for the first time in Louisiana’s history,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “This will be a statewide game-changer for directly targeting pay towards staffing needs and teacher quality.”
The adopted formula includes across the board salary increases of $2,000 for certificated teachers and $1,000 for non-certificated school support staff. In addition, BESE approved the addition of a differentiated compensation provision for teacher salaries, established in the MFP formula in the form of a $61 million block grant program. Under the new provision, school systems would receive dollars to fund stipends for teachers working in critical shortage areas as defined by BESE, highly-effective teachers as defined in state law and BESE policy, teachers working in schools with an economically disadvantaged student population rate of 85% or higher, and teacher leaders working to support their peers.
“The formula approved by the Board today supports key priorities for K-12 education in Louisiana,” said Dr. Holly Boffy, BESE President. “As the first step in the state’s education funding process, BESE’s passage of the MFP formula provides $257 million in pay raises for teachers, including $2,000 for all teachers and another $60 million to meet our greatest staffing challenges in the classroom. The new MFP also increases aid for schools and districts struggling to cover rising expenses, and supports career and technical education through dedicated funding. We look forward to working with our partners in the legislature throughout the budgeting process to ensure that our students and educators receive the financial support they deserve.”
BESE also added a projected $21.5 million to the MFP to help school systems meet ever-increasing operational costs. The Board increased the formula’s Mandated Costs Allocation from $100 to $133 per student to support health insurance, retirement, and transportation and other operational costs incurred by school systems. This reflects the rate of inflation from 2009 when this operational component was last increased.
Also included in the new MFP is a projected $1.5 million increase to the formula’s Supplemental Course Allocation, dedicated to state-approved apprenticeship programs. Funds would be distributed to school systems based on the number of eligible students, with an enrollment limit of 250 applicants annually across both semesters. Systems designated as rural by the U.S. Census Bureau would receive $3,500 per enrolled student, and non-rural systems would receive $2,500 per enrolled student.
“Business and industry partners frequently shoulder the need for employees trained in career and technical education,” said Dr. Brumley. “Dedicating funding to our school systems specifically to support apprenticeships will encourage this career readiness approach to be lifted across Louisiana.”
The MFP defines the cost of educating all K-12 public school students in Louisiana. The state’s constitution requires BESE to develop a formula for distributing state funds to public schools and submit it to the Louisiana Legislature each year. The final resolution outlining the formula approved by BESE today will be sent to the Legislature for consideration by March 15. Per state law, the Legislature may approve or reject the formula submitted by BESE but cannot make changes to it. Should the Revenue Estimating Conference recognize additional funds during the budget approval process, BESE also requested the legislature to return the formula to the Board so that a 2.75% increase to the formula’s base per pupil amount and additional funds for dual enrollment programs may be added.
Complete details on the adopted 2023-2024 MFP formula and its allocations are available here.