Officials show how foundation formula and district maps change winners and losers in school funding model

State education analysts told the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 27 that the administration’s proposed foundation amount and the way school districts are configured can produce materially different distributional outcomes for education funding.

“Using all of the same underlying information, the same FY '25 spending, the same foundation amount, and the same state or pupil counts and weights, we see that there are relative differences, distinct in the current law and distinct in Bongard’s [map],” a presentation to the committee summarized.

Why it matters: The committee is weighing a large policy change — moving to a statewide foundation formula and possibly reducing the number of districts and supervisory unions. The combination of what the foundation covers and how students are grouped determines which districts gain or lose relative…