Witness outlines $15,000-per-student foundation model and key trade-offs for Vermont school funding

Montpelier — At an April 17 joint meeting of the Vermont Senate Education and Finance committees, education finance researcher Dr. Tim Colby told lawmakers a student-based “foundation” funding formula would set the state’s funding obligation up front and allocate dollars to districts based on enrolled students and specific cost adjustments.

The model Colby described establishes a base per‑student funding amount — the state’s defined obligation — and then adds defined dollar cost adjustments for student and school factors that drive additional spending. “The student based funding formula is a fundamental shift from what we have right now,” Colby said, adding that the approach makes spending “predictable and transparent” for districts and the state.

Colby said his team used an education cost‑function approach, paired with professional‑judgment panels for context, and updated models through recent school years to estimate a base per‑student state funding level of about $15,000. He said the analysis then produced dollar adjustments (which translate into weights relative to that base) for factors including economic disadvantage, English‑learner status, special education needs, small‑school/sparsity effects and school size.

Why it matters: A foundation formula explicitly defines the state’s per‑student obligation and then directs additional funds where students’ needs or school contexts require them. That differs from Vermont’s current system, which Colby described as equalizing districts’ budgets after they are set (tax‑capacity equalization). Under…