HB 865-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
04/03
HOUSE BILL 865-FN
AN ACT relative to an adequate education and state education grants.
This bill defines the elements of an adequate education and establishes a formula for determining the cost per pupil and the adequate education grant amounts to be distributed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-1013
04/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to an adequate education and state education grants.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Definitions. RSA 198:38 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
198:38 Definitions. In this subdivision:
I. “Average daily membership in attendance” means average daily membership in attendance as defined in RSA 189:1-d, III.
II. “Average daily membership in residence” and “resident pupils” mean the average daily membership in residence as defined in RSA 189:1-d, IV except that no kindergarten pupil shall count as more than 1/2 day attendance per calendar day.
III. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the department of education.
IV. “Department” means the department of education.
V. “Educationally disabled child” or “educationally disabled pupil” means an educationally disabled child as defined in RSA 186-C:2, I.
VI. “Elementary school” means a school with any of the grades kindergarten through 8.
VII. “High school” means a school with any of the grades 9 through 12.
VIII. “Municipality” means a city, town, or unincorporated place.
IX. “School district” means school district as defined in RSA 194:1 or RSA 195:1.
X. “Total income per pupil” means the total income in the municipality from the Internal Revenue Service records divided by the number of unweighted pupils in the municipality.
XI. “Weighted average daily membership in residence” means a municipality’s average daily membership in residence for:
(a) Elementary school pupils, multiplied by 1; plus
(b) High school pupils, multiplied by 1.1; plus
(c) Educationally disabled pupils, multiplied by 0.5; plus
(d) Pupils receiving a free or reduced price meal, multiplied by 0.5.
2 New Section; Adequate Education Defined. Amend RSA 193-E by inserting after section 2 the following new section:
193-E:2-a Adequate Education Defined.
I. An adequate education shall include:
(a) Regular course instruction for grades 1-12 in English, math, physical sciences, biological sciences, United States and New Hampshire history, United States and New Hampshire government, civics, economics, world history, geography, health education, physical education, arts education, and information and communication technologies; credentialed teachers’ salaries and benefits; classroom supplies and textbooks required for regular course instruction.
(b) Special education.
(c) Pupil guidance.
(d) Psychological guidance.
(e) Speech and hearing pathology.
(f) English proficiency.
(g) Physical therapy.
(h) Occupational therapy.
(i) State-required pupil assessment.
(j) Vocational instruction.
II. An adequate education shall not include:
(a) Teacher assistant, non-credentialed teacher and substitute teacher salaries.
(b) Costs of professional services.
(c) New equipment, including computer equipment.
(d) Professional dues and fees.
(e) Professional meeting costs.
(f) Driver education instructor salaries.
(g) Driver education costs.
(h) Travel expenses.
(i) Vocational salaries and costs.
(j) Teacher training.
(k) Kindergarten costs.
(l) Preschool costs.
(m) Bilingual education costs.
III. A school district shall provide the department of education with expenditure data in an electronic format showing the costs for each category listed in paragraphs I-II and broken down by each municipality in the school district. The department shall calculate the cost of an adequate education in each school district every 5 years using expenditure data from the 3 previous years.
3 School Money; Adequate Education Grants. RSA 198:40-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
198:40-a Calculation of the Cost of an Adequate Education.
I. Beginning July 1, 2007 and every biennium thereafter, the commissioner shall calculate the cost of an adequate education by using the most recently submitted school district balance sheet, referred to as the DOE-25 report, using the following formula:
(a) Determine the equalized valuation per pupil by dividing the equalized valuation of property within a municipality as determined by the department of revenue administration by the weighted average daily membership in residence.
(b) If the equalized valuation per pupil is equal to or greater than $1,000,000, the per pupil cost shall be zero.
(c) If the equalized valuation per pupil is $100,000 or less, the cost per pupil shall be $5,832.
(d) If the equalized valuation per pupil is between $1,000,000 and $100,000, the cost per pupil shall be determined on a sliding scale from $0 to $5,832 using the following formula:
($1,000,000 minus (equalized valuation per weighted pupil divided by $900,000) multiplied by $5,832).
(e) The cost for municipalities which have an equalized valuation per weighted pupil less than $1,000,000 may have their cost per pupil increased by the following scale:
(1) If total income per pupil is less than $150,000, the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 10 percent.
(2) If total income per pupil is less than $165,000 but greater than or equal to $150,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 9 percent.
(3) If total income per pupil is less than $180,000 but greater than or equal to $165,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 8 percent.
(4) If total income per pupil is less than $195,000 but greater than or equal to $180,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 7 percent.
(5) If total income per pupil is less than $210,000 but greater than or equal to $195,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 6 percent.
(6) If total income is less than $225,000 but greater than or equal to $210,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 5 percent.
(7) If total income per pupil is less than $240,000 but greater than or equal to $225,000, then the calculated cost per pupil shall be increased by 4 percent.
(8) If total income per pupil is greater than or equal to $240,000, then the calculated cost shall be increased by 0 percent.
II. The commissioner shall annually adjust the $1,000,000 and the $100,000 amounts used in paragraph I using the annual change reported in the most recently available consumer price index for northeast urban consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.
III. The commissioner shall annually adjust the $5,832 amount used in paragraph I using the annual change reported in the most recently available consumer price index for northeast urban consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.
4 Determination of Education Grants. RSA 198:41 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
198:41 Determination of Education Grants.
I. Except for municipalities where all school districts therein provide education to all of their pupils by paying tuition to other institutions, the commissioner shall determine the amount of the education grant for a municipality by multiplying the cost per pupil as determined in RSA 198:40-a by the weighted average daily membership in residence for the municipality. From this amount, the commissioner shall subtract the amount in the warrant issued for such municipality pursuant to RSA 76:8. This amount shall be paid by the state to the municipality. Municipalities for which the amount of the warrant issued under RSA 76:8 exceeds the adequate education grant amounts under this paragraph shall remit such excess amount pursuant to RSA 198:46.
II. For municipalities where all school districts therein provide education to all of their pupils by paying tuition to other institutions, the commissioner shall determine the amount of the education grant for a municipality as the lesser of the 2 following calculations:
(a) The amount calculated in accordance with paragraph I of this section; or
(b) The total amount paid for items of current education expense as determined by the department.
5 Cooperative School Districts; State Aid. Amend RSA 195:15 to read as follows:
195:15 State Aid. The state aid to which a cooperative elementary and/or secondary district shall be entitled shall be the total of those shares of the aid to which the pupils attending the cooperative district would have entitled the pre-existing districts, had they remained in the pre-existing districts. [For the purposes of crediting the cooperative district’s adequate education cost to the pre-existing districts, each such pre-existing district shall have its adequate education cost under RSA 198:38, VII credited against its share of the cooperative school district budget. However, cooperative school districts formed by 2 or more pre-existing districts whose boundaries approximate those of a single township in which they are located shall be treated as a single school district for the purposes of this section.]
6 Reference Changes. Amend the following RSA provisions by replacing “equitable” with “adequate”: RSA 21-N:1, II(c); RSA 193:1, I(c); RSA 193-E:1, II; RSA 193-E:2; the section heading of RSA 193-E:3; RSA 194-B:3, II(i); RSA 195:14, I(c); RSA 195:14, I(d)(2)-(3); RSA 195:14-a, I; the section heading of RSA 198:42; RSA 198:42, I-II; RSA 198:43; RSA 198:48; and RSA 198:48-a, VII-VIII.
7 Reference Changes. Amend the following RSA provisions by replacing “enhanced education” with “education”: RSA 21-J:14-h; RSA 76:3; RSA 76:8, I; RSA 76:8, III; RSA 76:9; RSA 83-F:9; RSA 198:39, I(g); the section heading of RSA 198:46; RSA 198:46, I; RSA 198:47; RSA 198:57, III(a); and RSA 198:57, IV(c).
8 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 198:40-b, relative to targeted per pupil aid.
II. RSA 198:40-c, relative to statewide enhanced education tax capacity aid.
9 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
LBAO
07-1013
Revised 02/12/07
HB 865 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to an adequate education and state education grants.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Education states this bill will decrease state restricted expenditures and local revenue by $154,282,217 in FY 2008 and FY 2009 and $140,702,068 in FY 2010 and FY 2011. The Department of Education states this bill will increase state general fund expenditures by $172,819 in FY 2008, $141,722 in FY 2009, $96,002 in FY 2010, and $100,455 in FY 2011. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Education made the following assumptions when calculating the fiscal impact of adequate education grants under this bill. The Department assumes adequate education grants will be calculated once per biennium. The Department utilized U.S. Census data, rather than Internal Revenue Service data, to determine total income in each municipality. The Department utilized FY 2005 enrollment and equalized valuation data to determine the FY 2008/2009 calculation. To Determine the FY 2010/2011 calculation, the Department estimated FY 2007 enrollment by reducing FY 2005 enrollment by 1.6%, reducing the FY 2005 special education count by 0.6%, and increasing the FY 2005 free and reduced-price meal count by 7%. The Department assumed the change in the consumer price index will be 3.6% in both 2007 and 2008, resulting in a per pupil cost of $6,256 for the FY 2010/2011 calculation. The Department assumed local expenditures will increase 15.5% from FY 2005 to FY 2007 when determining the fiscal impact of equitable education grants under current law for FY 2010 and FY 2011.
The Department calculated state education trust fund expenditures and local revenue for adequate education grants under this bill, as well as the change from current law, as follows:
FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011
Current Law $890,426,554 $890,426,554 $915,037,637 $915,037,637
Adequate Education Grants $736,144,337 $736,144,337 $774,335,569 $774,335,569
Difference ($154,282,217) ($154,282,217) ($140,702,068) ($140,702,068)
The Department states this bill will result in “donor payments” of excess statewide education property taxes totaling $97,724,691 in both. FY 2008 and FY 2009 and $97,372,780 in both FY 2010 and FY 2011.
The Department states it cannot absorb the additional responsibilities established by this bill, including calculating the cost of an adequate education for each school district once every five years, assisting school districts with new reporting requirements, and revising the DOE-25 form, without consulting services during the first two years and one additional Administrator IV position (LG 33). This bill does not establish the position or appropriate funds for the position or other expenses. The Department calculated increased general fund expenditures as follows:
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FY 2010 |
FY 2011 | |
Administrator IV |
$57,194 |
$59,826 |
$62,712 |
$65,715 |
Benefits (48.3%) |
27,625 |
28,896 |
30,290 |
31,740 |
Consultant |
75,000 |
50,000 |
- |
- |
Equipment/Supplies |
13,000 |
3,000 |
3,000 |
3,000 |
TOTAL |
$172,819 |
$141,722 |
$96,002 |
$100,455 |