Gov. Bill Lee will give his State of the State address on Monday night. In it, the governor is expected to detail what he hopes will become the new education funding formula.
The state’s public school funding formula has been in place for 30 years. The governor wants a new one to become law by the end of session.
“The pieces that come together this week will allow us to make a proposal in short order to the legislature that they can then act on,” Lee said. “Again, that’s our hope, and we’re pretty hopeful it can happen this session.”
There have been complaints about the funding formula for years. One is that it doesn’t adequately fund schools or students with special needs.
But state Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, believes it’s unlikely that any changes will be made in time for the next school year.
“My school system will pass their budget sometime in the next couple of months more than likely,” Lamberth said. “And so, for us to make massive changes right now, it’s going to take a little on the local level — and we know that.”
The state’s department of education has proposed a new formula that ties funding more directly to individual students.
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