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House Ways and Means raises formula aid but omits several DESE priorities, officials say
Summary
DESE staff summarized House Ways and Means recommendations for FY27: higher formula aid and a $160 per-pupil increase, but omission of several governor-proposed line items including the literacy grant and some mental-health supports drew concern from DESE.
DESE and its chief financial officer briefed the board on the House Ways and Means recommendations for the FY27 state budget and flagged several items omitted from the House bill that DESE considers critical.
Bill, DESE’s CFO, said the House increased the per-pupil supplement to about $160 (the governor had proposed $75 per pupil), noting that "all of our education aid accounts are at their highest levels they've ever been." He also outlined large spending authorizations such as circuit breaker and charter tuition blocks and highlighted a reserve account the House established to address enrollment shifts.
Absent items: Commissioner Martinez and staff called out two governor-funded line items that were not included in the House recommendation — a multi-year literacy grant that supports districts implementing high-quality curriculum and a line for reimagining high school funding that covers AP exam fees and early-college supports — and asked the board to continue advocacy for those pieces during the Senate and conference process.
Timeline and next steps: The CFO outlined the legislative calendar — House floor action, a Senate Ways & Means bill in mid-May, and conference committee action ahead of a late-June/early-July final budget. Board members asked DESE for more localized data on enrollment shifts, homeless-transportation funding changes and the distributional effects of the House reserve account.
What to watch: Whether the Senate restores DESE priorities and whether the supplemental "fair share" funds tracked in supplemental bills are included in the final conference report; DESE said it will provide updates as legislative activity proceeds.
