Alabama lawmakers will consider changing the way the state funds public schools to better accommodate the needs of students in poverty and other circumstances that can make it harder for students to learn.

The Legislature passed a resolution Thursday that says the current funding method, called the Foundation Program and in use since the mid-1990s, relies too heavily on a one-size-fits-all approach.

“We would be looking at enhancements for students in poverty,” Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, longtime chairman of the Senate’s education budget committee, said Thursday. “Students that are English language learners. Students that have special needs. Special ed students. Students that are gifted. And looking at those categories as to appropriate additional dollars based on those particular needs of the student.

“We know that students in high poverty areas have a more difficult time in school and therefore a need for additional resources devoted to them, be it coaches for the teachers or different tutors, etc. After school sessions. Even summer school. So, looking at that situation, how do we address the needs of those students, in particular as opposed to just one-size-fits-all based on head count?”

Orr sponsored the resolution to study a change in the funding method, and all of the other 34 senators signed on as co-sponsors. The resolution passed the House of Representatives on Thursday and was sent to Gov. Kay Ivey.

“The Foundation Program is complex, containing few techniques for lawmakers to employ to address the changing needs of students and school districts and no clear way to link state funding priorities to local spending decisions and the outcomes of various student groups,” the resolution says.

“There is a need for greater flexibility to provide the educational services required of teachers, administration, and school systems in general,” the resolution says.

Findings from the study are due to the governor and legislative leaders by Feb. 1, 2025, three days before the start of the annual session.

“But we aim to have it completed before then to be well in advance to work with the governor and with members and educating them as to the reason and rationale for the funding change,” Orr said.

Alabama is one of six states that use a funding formula like the Foundation Program, while 41 states use a formula based on characteristics of the students of the district, such as low-income, poverty, disability, and status as an English language learner, or a gifted student, the resolution says.

Orr said it will be difficult to change from the Foundation Program after three decades of using an approach that is well established at the State House. Lawmakers hash out the budget over much of the 15 weeks of the annual legislative session and eventually approve a spending plan after input from the governor, lawmakers, the state Department of Education, and groups representing teachers, school employees, school boards, principals, retirees, and others who want to have a say in how the money is spent.

“It will be a heavy lift,” Orr said. “There are a lot of entrenched factors in our Foundation Program. But are we doing the best by our students, when you have a special needs student perhaps?”

Under the Foundation Program, the state provides about $7,000 per student, per year for public schools. But for a special needs student, Orr said it can cost $100,000 to provide the one-one-one services needed. Orr said there are ways under the current system to offset some of those costs, but more flexibility is needed.

“Well, that child obviously has special needs, has a greater cost to meet those needs,” Orr said. “And so that’s the reason we’re looking at seriously wanting to consider and wanting to put forward to the legislative body a plan as to why we need to do this and a plan of execution to attack the problem.”

Consideration of the funding change comes following several years of exceptionally strong tax revenues to support the education budget. Last week, the House passed a record $9.3 billion education budget for next fiscal year – 6.25% more than this year – plus related spending bills totaling $1.7 billion.

Legislative leaders have cautioned that revenues are returning to normal levels. For the last decade or so, the Legislature has capped education spending and funded reserve accounts.

Last year, lawmakers approved a new reserve account, the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund. Orr, who sponsored the bill creating the new account, said it could be used to help make the transition to a new funding method.

“That is scheduled to have approximately a billion dollars in it by next year,” Orr said. “So we will use, we anticipate, that particular well from which to draw the money to level the funding out and to mitigate any consequences as we move forward over a period of years.”