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Regular Session, 2014 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 204
BY SENATOR MURRAY
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to convene a
minimum foundation program (MFP) task force to examine the actual cost of
educating a student in Louisiana public elementary and secondary schools as well as
related issues relative to the MFP formula, and to submit a written report of the task
force findings and recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education not later
than February 1, 2015.
WHEREAS, the Constitution of Louisiana requires that the legislature provide for
the education of the people of the state and further requires that the legislature establish and
maintain a public educational system; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is required by
Louisiana Constitution Article VIII, ยง13, to create a MFP formula for the funding of public
elementary and secondary education and to submit the formula to the legislature for approval
and equitably allocate the funds to the school systems; and
WHEREAS, the constitution provides that the legislature may not amend the formula
that is adopted by the board and submitted to the legislature for its consideration but may
only return an unsatisfactory formula to the boards along with recommendations to the board
for an amended formula; and
WHEREAS, the MFP task force should study all potential funding mechanisms to
meet the actual cost of providing public elementary and secondary education in Louisiana;
and
WHEREAS, a MFP task force was convened in 2013, at the request of the House of
Representatives in House Resolution 148, and recommended the following: an increased
base per pupil funding of two and three-quarters percent; seven and one-half million dollars
in supplemental course allocation funds for the cost of courses not traditionally offered by
high schools; four billion dollars for career development funds to cover courses leading to SR NO. 204 ENROLLED
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statewide industry credentials; and four million dollars for high risk funds to support the
education of students with the most significant disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the 2013 task force did not study the "actual" cost of educating public
elementary and secondary students in the state; and
WHEREAS, the "actual" cost is paramount to accurately ascertain the MFP formula;
and
WHEREAS, the "actual" cost of educating public elementary and secondary students
in Louisiana has not been studied since 1996; and
WHEREAS, members of the MFP task force should include the Louisiana
Department of Education and representatives of the Louisiana School Boards Association,
Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, Louisiana Association of School Business
Officers, Council for a Better Louisiana, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry,
Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, Louisiana Association of Educators,
Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
convene a MFP task force to conduct a study of the MFP to determine the actual cost of
providing public elementary and secondary education in Louisiana, to study all potential
funding mechanisms to meet the actual cost of providing public elementary and secondary
education in Louisiana, and to submit a written report of the task force findings and
recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education not later than February 1, 2015.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE