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Regular Session, 2012 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 124
BY SENATOR CLAITOR
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study and
determine the most equitable funding methodology to appropriately address the
individual needs of children with special needs within the Minimum Foundation
Program formula and to incorporate such methodology into the formula as
expeditiously as possible.
WHEREAS, the minimum foundation formula provides an extra weight of 1.50 to
be applied to the base level of funding to generate additional funds to address the needs of
special education students, other than gifted and talented students; and
WHEREAS, utilizing the same weighting factor for every special education student,
regardless of the type or degree of exceptionality, does not ensure that each child receives
a level of funding that is directly related to the type, cost, or duration of services needed to
address his specific needs; and
WHEREAS, use of what is essentially a flat rate of funding for special education
students, regardless of the cost or level of services actually provided to the student by the
school or other educational provider, is inherently inequitable; and
WHEREAS, this inequity in funding will inevitably leave schools that enroll students
with more profound exceptionalities with proportionately fewer resources to address the
needs of the special education children who need it most; and
WHEREAS, reason and logic support the use of a range of weights, or use of a cost-
based component, within the Minimum Foundation Program formula to generate special
education funding that is directly related to the specific needs of each student identified with
an exceptionality, to the actual cost of providing the services required to meet the needs of
each child, and to the level of services actually provided to each child; and SCR NO. 124 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, it is necessary and appropriate for the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education to consider developing and incorporating a methodology within the
MFP formula by which to generate differentiated levels of special education funding aligned
with the needs of the individual special needs child.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study and
determine the most equitable funding methodology to appropriately address the individual
needs of children with special needs within the Minimum Foundation Program formula and
to incorporate such methodology into the formula as expeditiously as possible.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the board submit a written report of its findings
and recommendations to the Senate and House committees on education not later than
March 15, 2013.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
president of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state
superintendent of education.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES