2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 179
BY SENATOR MORRISH
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to reconvene
the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) task force to determine the actual cost of
providing public education in Louisiana and identify all potential funding
mechanisms to enable school systems to meet this cost and to submit a written report
of findings and recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education and the
House Committee on Education not later than February 1, 2018.
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 education system; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution of Louisiana further provides that it is the goal of the
public education system to provide learning environments and experiences at all stages of
human development that are humane, just, and designed to promote excellence in order that
every individual may be afforded an equal opportunity to develop to his full potential; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has
the constitutional responsibility of annually developing, adopting, and submitting to the
legislature for its approval and funding a formula to be used to determine the cost of a
Minimum Foundation Program of education in all public elementary and secondary schools
as well as to equitably allocate the funds to local 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 board along with recommendations to the board
for an amended formula; and
WHEREAS, for the purpose of providing BESE with advisory recommendations for
the MFP formula for 2014-2015 and beyond, BESE formed a MFP task force that met from
September of 2013 through January of 2014 and adopted several recommendations relative
to the formula; and
WHEREAS, at the urging of legislative resolutions, BESE authorized the
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reconvening of the task force to develop recommendations for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017
MFP formulas; and
WHEREAS, many education stakeholders feel that various issues relative to the MFP
formula warrant further study so the needs of students and the school systems that educate
them are sufficiently met; and
WHEREAS, in order to fulfill the state's constitutional duty of affording every
student an equal opportunity to develop to his full potential, it is imperative that there be
continued study of the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula so that determinations
can be made as to how the state can best provide experiences and opportunities to students
that help them succeed in all aspects of life.
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 to
reconvene the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) task force to determine the actual cost
of providing public education in Louisiana and identify all potential funding mechanisms
to enable school systems to meet this cost and to submit a written report of findings and
recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on
Education not later than February 1, 2018.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the membership of the task force include but not
be limited to individuals representing the State Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education, the state Department of Education, the Louisiana School Boards Association, the
Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, the Louisiana Association of School
Business Officers, the Council for a Better Louisiana, the Louisiana Association of Business
and Industry, the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, the Louisiana
Association of Educators, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and the Louisiana
Developmental Disabilities Council.
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
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