Lawmakers will reexamine how Arkansas spends money on public schools this fall, beginning a process that could change the state's funding formula for the first time in nearly two decades.
Senate Education Chair Jane English, R-North Little Rock, said state legislators will hold meetings this fall to explore overhauling the funding formula for public schools.
"We will look at other funding formulas to see whether there is something [better] that reflects what we're wanting to be doing," English said.
The brief discussion came during a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees last week, with legislative staff briefing lawmakers about the education adequacy process, a more than yearlong study of public education in Arkansas.
At the end of the process, which will occur in the fall 2024, the Senate and House education committees will create recommendations for how the state should fund public education for the next two years. While lawmakers will use the current funding model while they studies funding for public education, lawmakers will explore alternatives.
"As we begin and proceed through the upcoming adequacy study, we plan to look at additional funding models in a comparative manner to see if there are models or a culmination of models that might be more beneficial to the state of Arkansas," Brian Evans, chair of the House Education Committee, said in a statement.
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