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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- S 0235 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC000909 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX |
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| 16 | 16 | | RELIEF ACT |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Senators Murray, Pearson, Acosta, Euer, Picard, Felag, Zurier, DiPalma, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Lawson, and Lauria |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: February 16, 2023 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: Senate Finance |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 16-7.2-3. Permanent foundation education aid established. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) Beginning in the 2012 fiscal year, the following foundation education-aid formula shall 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | take effect. The foundation education aid for each district shall be the sum of the core instruction 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | amount in subdivision (a)(1) and the amount to support high-need students in subdivision (a)(2), 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | which shall be multiplied by the district state-share ratio calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-4 to 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | determine the foundation aid. 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (1) The core-instruction amount shall be an amount equal to a statewide, per-pupil core-9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | instruction amount as established by the department of elementary and secondary education, 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | derived from the average of northeast regional expenditure data for the states of Rhode Island, 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire from the National Center for Education Statistics 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (NCES) that will adequately fund the student instructional needs as described in the basic education 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | program and multiplied by the district average daily membership as defined in § 16-7-22. 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Expenditure data in the following categories: instruction and support services for students, 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | instruction, general administration, school administration, and other support services from the 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | National Public Education Financial Survey, as published by NCES, and enrollment data from the 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Common Core of Data, also published by NCES, will be used when determining the core-18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC000909 - Page 2 of 4 |
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| 45 | 45 | | instruction amount. The core-instruction amount will be updated annually. For the purpose of 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | calculating this formula, school districts’ resident average daily membership shall exclude charter 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | school and state-operated school students. 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (2) The amount to support high-need students beyond the core-instruction amount shall be 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | determined by multiplying a student success factor of forty percent (40%) by the core instruction 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | per-pupil amount described in subdivision (a)(1) and applying that amount for each resident child 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | guidelines, hereinafter referred to as “poverty status.” By October 1, 2022, as part of its budget 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2024 and thereafter, the department of 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | elementary and secondary education shall develop and utilize a poverty measure that in the 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | department’s assessment most accurately serves as a proxy for the poverty status referenced in this 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | subsection and does not rely on the administration of school nutrition programs. The department 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | shall utilize this measure in calculations pursuant to this subsection related to the application of the 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | student success factor, in calculations pursuant to § 16-7.2-4 related to the calculation of the state 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | share ratio, and in the formulation of estimates pursuant to subsection (b) below. The department 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | may also include any recommendations which seek to mitigate any disruptions associated with the 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | implementation of this new poverty measure or improve the accuracy of its calculation. 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (b) The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide an estimate of the 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | foundation education aid cost as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4. The estimate 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | shall include the most recent data available as well as an adjustment for average daily membership 20 |
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| 65 | 65 | | growth or decline based on the prior year experience. 21 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (c) In addition, the department shall report updated figures based on the average daily 22 |
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| 67 | 67 | | membership as of October 1 by December 1. 23 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (d) Local education agencies may set aside a portion of funds received under subsection 24 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (a) to expand learning opportunities such as after school and summer programs, full-day 25 |
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| 70 | 70 | | kindergarten and/or multiple pathway programs, provided that the basic education program and all 26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | other approved programs required in law are funded. 27 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (e) The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate such 28 |
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| 73 | 73 | | regulations as are necessary to implement fully the purposes of this chapter. 29 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (f) The department shall review the student success factor of forty percent (40%) provided 30 |
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| 75 | 75 | | in subsection (a)(2) of this section to determine whether that weight ensures local education 31 |
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| 76 | 76 | | agencies receive the funding necessary to meet students' instructional needs. The department shall 32 |
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| 77 | 77 | | complete its review and report its findings to the governor, the president of the senate, and the 33 |
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| 78 | 78 | | speaker of the house by October 1, 2023. 34 |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | LC000909 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ======== |
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| 84 | 84 | | LC000909 |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | |
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| 88 | 88 | | LC000909 - Page 4 of 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 90 | 90 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 91 | 91 | | OF |
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| 92 | 92 | | A N A C T |
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| 93 | 93 | | RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX |
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| 94 | 94 | | RELIEF ACT |
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| 95 | 95 | | *** |
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| 96 | 96 | | This act would require a review by the department of elementary and secondary education 1 |
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| 97 | 97 | | of the formula components used to compute the aid needed to support high need students. 2 |
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| 98 | 98 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 3 |
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| 99 | 99 | | ======== |
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| 100 | 100 | | LC000909 |
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