WITH THE RECENT news that Rhode Island’s anticipated budget deficit for the next fiscal year is probably well over $400 million, it seems unlikely that Rhode Island schools will receive any more state aid than the $691 million they received this year.

However, the state could provide more assistance where it is most needed if we distributed that $691 million on the basis of the education needs of children and an equal and equitable tax effort of all Rhode Island communities. The Fair Share Education Funding Formula (2008-H 7957/2008-S 2650), which we have sponsored in both chambers of the General Assembly, would make such a shift.

Rhode Island is one of only two states that do not distribute education aid dollars through a predictable school-funding formula; Pennsylvania, the other holdout, seems poised to adopt a formula. For almost a decade, Rhode Island has funded education on the basis of student need and community tax capacity as determined in the mid-1990s. In years when state revenues were healthy, all communities received the same percentage increase. Education aid for this year, fiscal 2008, which ends June 30, was level-funded, meaning that there was no increase or decrease. For fiscal 2009, Governor Carcieri has proposed another year of level funding.

The state’s method of distributing state aid to education has not kept up with inflation, nor has it kept up with changes in school populations. Property values have increased much more in some of our cities and towns than in others. The numbers of English-language learners are much higher in some districts than in others. A few districts have enrollment increases, though the trend state-wide is declining enrollment. That trend is expected to continue for at least a decade. Across-the-board increases and level funding have ignored these changing needs.

It is precisely because of these facts that we have introduced the Fair Share Education Funding Formula. This proposal establishes an equitable, predictable and sustainable method of distributing currently available education dollars to local school districts.

The Fair Share Education Funding Formula takes into account the number of public-school students in a city or town and the education needs of those children. It takes into account the needs of the children by making a weighted allowance for those who participate in special-education programs (have individualized education plans), are economically disadvantaged (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), are English-language learners or are career and technical students. In other words, the first key element of the funding formula is that it is focused on students and their need for resources.

The second key element is that it requires an equalized effort by all cities and towns to pay for the known education needs of the students within their district. Determining equalized effort or tax capacity is controversial. Rhode Island has various means of measuring the wealth of cities and towns. One method is a full-value assessment on taxable property and another is an adjusted, equalized, assessed value. The adjusted, equalized assessed value recognizes the demands on the tax base for other municipal services and the median household income of the community in relation to Rhode Island’s median family income. Using the average of full-value and adjusted, equalized assessed value would provide a fairer measure of each district’s capacity to meet its public school needs.

The number of students, weighted by nationally accepted norms such as 0.5 for students eligible for free lunch, when multiplied by the foundation-level cost of education would give us the minimum education dollars needed by each district. State aid would be determined by finding the difference between the calculated cost of educating the children and the amount the community could raise through the uniform tax effort. Districts with tax capacity in excess of their weighted student need would not be required to contribute their excess to needy districts.

Rather, applying this proposal to the available $691 million, some districts would receive less than they have in recent years while others would receive more. As the state revenue picture improves, our legislation provides for state assumption of mandated expenses such as out-of-district transportation and extraordinary special-education services. Additionally, with more revenue available, the foundation-level cost per student would increase while the property-tax rate for education remained constant; increasing the foundation level would provide progressively more aid for more districts.

We are certainly willing to listen to any ideas that could make the Fair Share Education Funding Formula even more equitable and responsive for all of our school districts. However, absent some demonstrably better proposal, it is the far superior alternative to the status quo; the Fair Share Education Funding Formula recognizes student need for resources, and treats all communities equally. It is an eminently fair-share formula.

Edith H. Ajello, a Democrat from Providence, and John Savage, a Republican from East Providence, are Rhode Island state representatives. Democratic State Senators Hanna M. Gallo, from Cranston, and Rhoda E. Perry, from Providence, also collaborated on this piece.