Bill Sponsors
Thompson, and Murray
Committee
Senate Finance
Summary
Select
This bill changes how local education funding is calculated for charter public schools, the Davies Career and Technical High School, and the Met Center. Currently, the law caps the amount of local funding that traditional school districts can withhold from these alternative schools at 14%, starting in the 2026 fiscal year. This bill removes that 14% limit. As a result, depending on their specific expenses, traditional school districts may be able to keep a larger portion of their local education funds rather than passing them on to charter and technical schools.
Sponsor
Analysis
Pros for Progressives
- May protect critical funding for traditional public school districts, allowing them to better support their students and maintain generous public educational services.
- Helps traditional public schools retain funds needed for high-cost services like special education, pre-school intervention, and transportation, which disproportionately serve disadvantaged students.
- Resists the financial drain caused by charter schools, aligning with progressive goals to strengthen the traditional, universally accessible public education system rather than semi-privatized alternatives.
Cons for Progressives
- Could decrease funding for charter public schools, which often serve low-income and minority students in urban areas, potentially impacting their educational quality.
- May negatively affect the budgets of career and technical schools like Davies and the Met Center, which provide valuable vocational training to working-class students.
- Might create financial instability for alternative public education models that some families rely on when traditional schools fail to meet their needs.
Pros for Conservatives
- Increases local control over education funding by allowing traditional school districts to retain a larger portion of their locally raised tax dollars.
- Prevents local taxpayers from being forced to subsidize charter schools at a fixed rate, ensuring funds are aligned with actual district expenses.
- Reduces the financial burden on municipal budgets by allowing districts to deduct their full costs for things like debt service and out-of-district tuition before paying charter schools.
Cons for Conservatives
- Weakens the school choice movement by potentially reducing the amount of funding that follows a student to a charter or technical school.
- Protects the traditional public school monopoly by shielding them from the full financial consequences of students choosing to leave for better educational options.
- May force charter schools to operate with tighter budgets, making it harder for these innovative, market-driven educational models to compete with traditional government-run schools.
Constitutional Concerns
None Likely. The bill simply adjusts the statutory funding formula for public education and charter schools by removing a cap on a funding reduction. It does not implicate free speech, due process, or unreasonable searches and seizures.
Impact Overview
Groups Affected
- Charter school students
- Traditional public school districts
- Charter school administrators
- Davies Career and Technical High School
- The Met Center
Towns Affected
All
Cost to Taxpayers
None
Revenue Generated
None
BillBuddy Impact Ratings
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Public Services
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Regulatory
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Clarity of Bill Language
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Environmental Impact
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Bill Status
Current Status
Held
Comm Passed
Floor Passed
Law
History
• 05/11/2026 Introduced, referred to Senate Finance
Bill Text
SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:
16-7.2-5. Charter public schools, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School, and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center.
(a) Charter public schools, as defined in chapter 77 of this title, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School (Davies), and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met Center) shall be funded pursuant to § 16-7.2-3. If the October 1 actual enrollment data for any charter public school shows a ten percent (10%) or greater change from the prior year enrollment that is used as the reference year average daily membership, the last six (6) monthly payments to the charter public school will be adjusted to reflect actual enrollment. The state share of the permanent foundation education aid shall be paid by the state directly to the charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center pursuant to § 16-7.2-9 and shall be calculated using the state- share ratio of the district of residence of the student as set forth in § 16-7.2-4. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide the general assembly with the calculation of the state share of permanent foundation education aid for charter public schools delineated by school district.
(b) The local share of education funding shall be paid to the charter public school, Davies, and the Met Center by the district of residence of the student and shall be the local, per-pupil cost calculated by dividing the local appropriation to education from property taxes, net of debt service, and capital projects, as defined in the uniform chart of accounts by the average daily membership for each city and town, pursuant to § 16-7-22, for the reference year.
(c) Beginning in FY 2017, there shall be a reduction to the local per-pupil funding paid by the district of residence to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center. This reduction shall be equal to the greater (i) Of seven percent (7%) of the local, per-pupil funding of the district of residence pursuant to subsection (b) or (ii) The per-pupil value of the district’s costs for non-public textbooks, transportation for non-public students, retiree health benefits, out-of-district special- education tuition and transportation, services for students age eighteen (18) to twenty-one (21) years old, pre-school screening and intervention, and career and technical education, tuition and transportation costs, debt service and rental costs minus the average expenses incurred by charter schools for those same categories of expenses as reported in the uniform chart of accounts for the prior preceding fiscal year pursuant to § 16-7-16(11) and verified by the department of elementary and secondary education. In the case where audited financials result in a change in the calculation after the first tuition payment is made, the remaining payments shall be based on the most recent audited data. For those districts whose greater reduction occurs under the calculation of (ii), there shall be an additional reduction to payments to mayoral academies with teachers who do not participate in the state teacher’s retirement system under chapter 8 of title 36 equal to the per-pupil value of teacher retirement costs attributable to unfunded liability as calculated by the state’s actuary for the prior preceding fiscal year.Notwithstanding the foregoing, beginning with FY 2026, the reduction to the local per-pupil funding shall not exceed fourteen percent (14%).
(d) Local district payments to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center for each district’s students enrolled in these schools shall be made on a quarterly basis in July, October, January, and April; however, the first local-district payment shall be made by August 15, instead of July. Failure of the community to make the local-district payment for its student(s) enrolled in a charter public school, Davies, and/or the Met Center may result in the withholding of state education aid pursuant to § 16-7-31.
(e) Beginning in FY 2017, school districts with charter public school, Davies, and the Met Center enrollment, that, combined, comprise five percent (5%) or more of the average daily membership as defined in § 16-7-22, shall receive additional aid for a period of three (3) years. Aid in FY 2017 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of one hundred seventy-five dollars ($175). Aid in FY 2018 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year LC006438 - Page 2 of 4 as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of one hundred dollars ($100). Aid in FY 2019 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of fifty dollars ($50.00). The additional aid shall be used to offset the adjusted fixed costs retained by the districts of residence.
(f) [Deleted by P.L. 2023, ch. 79, art. 8, § 2.]
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
16-7.2-5. Charter public schools, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School, and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center.
(a) Charter public schools, as defined in chapter 77 of this title, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School (Davies), and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met Center) shall be funded pursuant to § 16-7.2-3. If the October 1 actual enrollment data for any charter public school shows a ten percent (10%) or greater change from the prior year enrollment that is used as the reference year average daily membership, the last six (6) monthly payments to the charter public school will be adjusted to reflect actual enrollment. The state share of the permanent foundation education aid shall be paid by the state directly to the charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center pursuant to § 16-7.2-9 and shall be calculated using the state- share ratio of the district of residence of the student as set forth in § 16-7.2-4. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide the general assembly with the calculation of the state share of permanent foundation education aid for charter public schools delineated by school district.
(b) The local share of education funding shall be paid to the charter public school, Davies, and the Met Center by the district of residence of the student and shall be the local, per-pupil cost calculated by dividing the local appropriation to education from property taxes, net of debt service, and capital projects, as defined in the uniform chart of accounts by the average daily membership for each city and town, pursuant to § 16-7-22, for the reference year.
(c) Beginning in FY 2017, there shall be a reduction to the local per-pupil funding paid by the district of residence to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center. This reduction shall be equal to the greater (i) Of seven percent (7%) of the local, per-pupil funding of the district of residence pursuant to subsection (b) or (ii) The per-pupil value of the district’s costs for non-public textbooks, transportation for non-public students, retiree health benefits, out-of-district special- education tuition and transportation, services for students age eighteen (18) to twenty-one (21) years old, pre-school screening and intervention, and career and technical education, tuition and transportation costs, debt service and rental costs minus the average expenses incurred by charter schools for those same categories of expenses as reported in the uniform chart of accounts for the prior preceding fiscal year pursuant to § 16-7-16(11) and verified by the department of elementary and secondary education. In the case where audited financials result in a change in the calculation after the first tuition payment is made, the remaining payments shall be based on the most recent audited data. For those districts whose greater reduction occurs under the calculation of (ii), there shall be an additional reduction to payments to mayoral academies with teachers who do not participate in the state teacher’s retirement system under chapter 8 of title 36 equal to the per-pupil value of teacher retirement costs attributable to unfunded liability as calculated by the state’s actuary for the prior preceding fiscal year.
(d) Local district payments to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center for each district’s students enrolled in these schools shall be made on a quarterly basis in July, October, January, and April; however, the first local-district payment shall be made by August 15, instead of July. Failure of the community to make the local-district payment for its student(s) enrolled in a charter public school, Davies, and/or the Met Center may result in the withholding of state education aid pursuant to § 16-7-31.
(e) Beginning in FY 2017, school districts with charter public school, Davies, and the Met Center enrollment, that, combined, comprise five percent (5%) or more of the average daily membership as defined in § 16-7-22, shall receive additional aid for a period of three (3) years. Aid in FY 2017 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of one hundred seventy-five dollars ($175). Aid in FY 2018 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year LC006438 - Page 2 of 4 as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of one hundred dollars ($100). Aid in FY 2019 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in § 16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of fifty dollars ($50.00). The additional aid shall be used to offset the adjusted fixed costs retained by the districts of residence.
(f) [Deleted by P.L. 2023, ch. 79, art. 8, § 2.]
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.