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An Act To Improve Equity in State Aid to Schools
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §15689, sub-§14  is enacted to read:
 
14.  Adjustment for highly funded schools.     Beginning in fiscal year 2018-19, and in each subsequent fiscal year, the commissioner shall decrease the state share of the total allocation to a highly funded school in accordance with this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, "highly funded school" means a school administrative unit whose total spending on education programs and services in the most recent year for which data is available exceeded 108% of the total cost of the components of essential programs and services for that school administrative unit in that year, excluding any adjustment made under this subsection. "Highly funded school" does not include a school administrative unit with a median family income below $40,000, as determined by the commissioner using the most recent census data. The commissioner shall decrease the state share of the total allocation to a highly funded school by an amount equal to the difference between 108% of the total cost of the components of essential programs and services for that school administrative unit in the previous fiscal year and the amount spent by the school administrative unit on education programs and services in that previous fiscal year.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides for an adjustment in the state share of the total allocation to a highly funded school, which is defined as a school administrative unit whose total spending on education programs and services in the most recent year for which data is available exceeded 108% of the total cost of the components of essential programs and services for that school administrative unit in that year, excluding any adjustment made pursuant to this new provision. The Commissioner of Education is required to decrease the state share of the total allocation to a highly funded school by an amount equal to the difference between 108% of the total cost of the components of essential programs and services for that school administrative unit in the previous fiscal year and the amount spent by the school administrative unit on education programs and services in the previous fiscal year.