BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Senate has quickly signed off on a $3.7 billion financing formula to pay for K-12 public schools next year.
The formula was submitted by the state education board. It would pay for more than 700,000 students in the 2018-19 school year.
The proposal contains no inflationary increases. But it would grow slightly to account for an expected increase of nearly 2,800 students.
Education leaders sought more money to boost teacher pay and cover rising school district expenses. But the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education didn’t think such increases could win legislative backing amid ongoing state budget gaps.
The plan without inflationary hikes cleared the Senate with a 35-0 vote Tuesday and no debate, sending it to the House for consideration.