Mississippi Senate agrees to a new school funding formula, sending plan to the governor

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi would ditch a complex school funding formula that legislators have largely ignored since it became law a generation ago and replace it with a new plan that some lawmakers say is simpler to understand, under a bill headed to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.

A bill with the new formula passed the 52-member state Senate on Saturday with three votes in opposition, a day after it passed the House 113-0. Republicans control both chambers.

The new plan, called the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, would replace the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) — a formula that legislators have fully funded only two years since it became law in 1997.

House and Senate leaders said the new plan would give school districts a boost in funding for students who can be more expensive to educate. For example, extra money would be calculated for students who live in poverty, those with special needs or dyslexia, those learning English as a second language, or those enrolled in gifted programs or career and technical education programs.