From the Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 163.031:
(2) For districts with an average daily attendance of three hundred fifty or less in the school year preceding the payment year:
(a) For the 2008-09 school year, the state revenue received by a district from the state aid calculation under subsections 1 and 4 of this section, as applicable, and the classroom trust fund under section 163.043 shall not be less than the greater of state revenue received by a district in the 2004-05 or 2005-06 school year from the foundation formula, line 14, gifted, remedial reading, exceptional pupil aid, fair share, and free textbook payment amounts multiplied by the dollar value modifier;
(b) For each year subsequent to the 2008-09 school year, the amount shall be no less than that computed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision;
Not all of us are lawyers, so I’ll translate the above paragraph from the Missouri law on public education funding. The 184 (out of 517) school districts in Missouri that had an average daily attendance of fewer than 350 students last year either received state funding based on the foundation formula or the same amount of state funding they received nearly two decades ago, whichever is larger. These types of revenue protections are usually referred to as “hold-harmless provisions” and are meant to help districts transition from a prior formula to a new one. The 2006 Missouri Legislature decided to make that assistance permanent.
In 2023, in 138 of the 184 small districts, or 75 percent of them, the foundation formula calculation was run and then tossed out because the result was less than what those districts received the first year the formula was put into place—most likely because of declining enrollment. This means they received their 2004–05 (or 2005–06 figure if it was larger) funding at an additional cost of over $41 million in state funds than what the formula calculated for those districts last year. And they will continue to receive that amount forever, regardless of their enrollment.
When the time comes to reconsider how we fund public education in Missouri, it is imperative that legislators do not put permanent revenue protections into state statute. Doing so distorts enrollment trends, property value trends, and the distribution of taxpayer dollars. We need to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent as wisely and appropriately as possible.
