Minimum Foundation Program

In Louisiana, the Minimum Foundation Program is the formula that determines the cost to educate students at public elementary and secondary schools and defines state and local funding contributions to each district. Education officials often use the term "MFP" to refer specifically to the portion the state pays per student to each school district. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is required by the Louisiana Constitution to adopt a formula to determine the total cost of a minimum foundation program of education in public schools and to equitably allocate funding to school systems. The Louisiana legislature must approve the formula each year. Local and state contributions to the MFP vary based on student needs and local tax bases. MFP funding has been frozen at the same rate for two years. In 2010, the Louisiana Legislature moved to restructure the MFP formula. Critics say the formula does not encourage districts to implement taxes to pay higher amounts than the state for the cost of education.

In Louisiana, the Minimum Foundation Program is the formula that determines the cost to educate students at public elementary and secondary schools and defines state and local funding contributions to each district. Education officials often use the term "MFP" to refer specifically to the portion the state pays per student to each school district. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is required by the Louisiana Constitution to adopt a formula to determine the total cost of a minimum foundation program of education in public schools and to equitably allocate funding to school systems. The Louisiana legislature must approve the formula each year. Local and state contributions to the MFP vary based on student needs and local tax bases. MFP funding has been frozen at the same rate for two years. In 2010, the Louisiana Legislature moved to restructure the MFP formula. Critics say the formula does not encourage districts to implement taxes to pay higher amounts than the state for the cost of education. ==Weighted formula== MFP funding in the 2010-2011 fiscal year totaled $3,308,741,821. That amount divided evenly among 696,444 public school students in Louisiana would work out to $4,750 per pupil. But some students cost more to educate than others. Rather than increasing the dollar amount, the MFP formula artificially increases the number of students it funds. This "weighted membership" accounts for special education, gifted and talented and at-risk students. For example, a school receives 2.5 times the amount of funding it would receive for a general population student to educate a special education student. ==District taxing controversy== Critics say the MFP formula discourages high levels of local, rather than state, funding. Louisiana House Speaker Jim Tucker said in an interview with Louisiana Public Broadcasting that the MFP formula keeps districts from levying higher taxes because districts with high local taxes receive lower state funding payments. Tulane University's Cowen Institute was founded in 2007¹ to examine the effects of local tax initiatives on the MFP. Tara O'Neill, Cowen Institute Policy Manager, said districts receive extra incentive funding from the state when they raise high amounts of funding at the local level. O'Neill said districts get this extra money whether they tax a low tax base at a high rate or tax a healthy tax base at a low rate.

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