Arkansas lawmakers adopt recommendations for per-student school funding 

The Joint Education Committee recommended Monday that Arkansas increase the per-student funding directed to public schools by more than 2% over the next two years. 

Schools would receive $8,239 per student for the 2027-2028 academic year and $8,431 the following school year, under the recommendations advanced Monday. Schools currently receive $8,037 per student. 

The proposed increases will go before the Legislature during the legislative session, which begins in January.

Arkansas Explained: How is the state’s public school funding amount set?

The recommendations are the culmination of a months-long adequacy study that occurs every other year and is the result of school funding litigation. 

The Legislature is required by law to recommend the amount of state funding needed to provide an adequate and equitable education, and provide a report of their recommendations to the leaders of the House and Senate by Nov. 1. 

Committee co-chair Rep. Keith Brooks, a Republican, said lawmakers are recommending $1,000 for dyslexia intervention services for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade, representing about $26 million in new spending next year. 

The committee’s recommendations also include $14 million for high-cost occurrence students. High-cost funding applies to individual cases where costs associated with special education and related services required by an Individualized Education Program are unduly expensive, extraordinary or beyond the routine special education and related services, according to the state education department.  

Brooks said these changes represent about $40 million in new dedicated special needs funding next year.

“These recommendations, they’re not just strong, they’re amongst the strongest this committee’s ever made in the history of the adequacy study, including giving a strong credence to the concern over special needs funding with significant funding there,” he said. “So I’m proud of the work we’ve done.” 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Republican Rep. Julie Mayberry, expressed concerns about receiving the recommendations at Monday’s meeting and not having more time for discussion before voting on them. 

“I’m very happy to see a lot of the things that are in here, I really am, I just wish that we had a little bit more overall discussion because I don’t think this committee has had that chance to have those discussions,” Mayberry said.  

Rep. Stephen Meeks, a Greenbrier Republican and senior member of the committee, said this is not the end of the discussion. The recommendations are needed to draft legislation and lawmakers can continue to debate the amounts proposed in that legislation when the session starts in January, he said.

Brooks said he plans to run a bill proposing the new per-student funding amounts during next year’s session.