Legislation has been introduced in the Georgia House to change the complicated formula that gives a majority of the state's school districts a share of more than $400 million.
The intent of equalization grants is to attempt to eliminate the funding disparity between wealthy and poorer school districts.
House Bill 824, sponsored by Rep. Mike Dudgeon, R-Cumming, would require that, when the grant program is not fully funded, the school districts lowest on the wealth-per-child scale get a larger percentage of the reduced amount than more affluent districts.
The bill mirrors a recent unanimous suggestion of the Education Finance Commission, a group of legislators, educators and businesspeople tasked with looking at all aspects of public school financing. It's likely to be fast-tracked through the legislative process since the legislation could be effective for fiscal 2013, which starts July 1.
About the Author
