PROVIDENCE — Over the past several years, countless proposals to find a new way to pay for Rhode Island’s public schools that is both fair and predictable have been kicked around the General Assembly.

It’s happening again this year. And once again, proposals to establish a statewide education financing formula appear to be going nowhere.

A major stumbling block, say legislators, is a reluctance to give more money to some districts at the expense of others, creating winners and losers in the midst of bleak economic circumstances.

“I am very supportive of a funding formula,” said Rep. Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence, chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee. “But unless there’s a willingness to accept the fact that there are winners and losers, or unless there is enough infusion of money so there are no winners and losers, that’s when you’ll be able to have that kind of discussion.”

Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, has repeatedly pointed out that the current system also produces winners and losers — with districts as disparate as Providence, the state’s largest and neediest district, and Barrington, a wealthy district that has seen a jump in student enrollment, getting the short end of the stick.“It’s just preposterous,” said Ajello. “How many generations of kids have to wait until we get our numbers in order and start sending the money where the kids are today?”

Ajello’s proposed formula, H-5978, would give more state aid to districts with increased enrollment, phasing in the shift over a three-year period. Districts that have seen a big dip in the number of students, such as Newport, and those that received extra state aid for regionalizing, such as Bristol-Warren, would lose state aid under the Ajello plan.

Some lawmakers say they would reject any approach that would take state aid from cash-strapped districts.

“I think it’s important that communities be held harmless,” said Rep. Robert B. Jacquard, D-Cranston. Rhode Island is the only state without a formula, a situation the chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, Robert G. Flanders Jr., calls “a disgrace.”

The last funding formula faded away more than a decade ago. Since then, the General Assembly has distributed state aid by simply reviewing the amount a district received in the past. In good years, lawmakers added about 3 percent. In tough years, districts have been “level-funded,” receiving the same amount as in the previous year — even as fuel costs and teacher salaries have risen. And now, districts are bracing for cuts in state support in fiscal 2010. Across the state, districts are laying off teachers and staff and cutting programs.

Critics of the current system, including mayors, town councils and school committees, say the way state education aid is doled out no longer has any connection to the number of students in each district.

“What we have right now is out of whack with the current enrollments,” Flanders said. “So we have some districts getting more state aid than their district numbers merit, and others that are not getting enough.”

Flanders said that any new formula must take into account enrollment, student needs and the ability for each district to finance its education system.

Some leaders say they are worried that without a formula, the state could jeopardize additional federal stimulus money controlled by the U.S. Department of Education.

“We are hearing [the lack of a formula] could be an issue, and we want to make sure we are well-positioned as a state to capture more of the federal dollars,” said Sen. Hanna M. Gallo, a Cranston Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Gallo has also proposed a financing formula, S-921, that would not take state aid away from districts that have experienced a decline in enrollment.

“If we don’t have our act together and aren’t able to distribute funds in an equitable way, why would the feds give us anything?” Flanders said. “We need to galvanize our General Assembly to get this passed.”

Rep. Joy Hearn, D-Barrington, agrees. “It’s time we have a formula,” she said. “I just want to get people thinking about this, if not for this year, then at least for next year.”

Hearn, along with other legislators representing Barrington, is hosting an open forum from 7 to 9 Monday night to discuss the need for a statewide education formula. The session will be held in the School Committee room at Town Hall, 283 Country Rd.

With staff reports from Cynthia Needham

jjordan@projo.com