MQEC Secures Consent Decree to Enforce Inflation Guarantee in School Funding
The Montana Quality Education Coalition (MQEC) has reached agreement with the State of Montana on a settlement of the claims raised in the case of MQEC v. State that will provide school districts with 2.43% inflation on the Basic and Per-ANB entitlements in FY13, the upcoming school year.
MQEC's suit alleged that the state failed to comply with state law regarding the funding of Montana's K-12 public schools by failing to fund the inflationary increase to the basic and per-ANB entitlements calculated pursuant to 20-9-309, 20-9-326 and the courts' decisions in Columbia Falls Elementary v. State.
The state failed to fund 2.43% inflation in FY13 and instead reduced that calculated increase to 1.6% due to a coordinating instruction in SB 329 that made full statutory inflation contingent upon passage of HB 316, a bill unrelated to school funding. When the Governor vetoed HB 316, the coordinating instruction in SB 329 took effect and the inflationary adjustment for FY13 of 2.43% was reduced to 1.6%.
The terms of the settlement are attached to this email for your information, and include the following:
1. An agreement that the coordinating instruction in SB 329 violates the legislature's school funding formula, which is intended to be self-executing and include a mechanism for annual inflationary adjustments.
2. An agreement by the state that Montana's school districts' budget limitations for general fund budgets, including each school district's BASE, Maximum and general fund budget without a vote will be adjusted using a 2.43% inflation factor on the basic and per-ANB entitlements for FY2013 and that the Office of Public Instruction will revise and republish preliminary data sheets utilizing the revised inflation factor of 2.43% for FY2013.
3. That the state will make payments to school districts for FY2013 that are consistent with 2.43% inflation.
4. That the present law base for the next biennium will be adjusted by inflation as calculated in the law, starting with a base of 2.43% inflation for FY2013.
The settlement is effective today, the date signed by the Court. As a result, school districts can proceed with their budget planning processes for the next school year using a 2.43% inflation factor for the Basic and Per-ANB entitlements, using the following specific amounts:
|
General Fund Entitlement
|
FY2013 Amount
|
|
Elementary Basic
|
$23,593
|
|
Middle School Basic
|
$66,816
|
|
High School Basic
|
$262,224
|
|
Elementary Per-ANB
|
$5,075
|
|
Middle School Per-ANB
|
$6,497
|
|
High School Per-ANB
|
$6,497
|
MQEC is hopeful that this settlement will help mitigate some of the budget pressures our members are facing for the upcoming school year.
We appreciate the efforts of MQEC's counsel Brian Gallik and those of the state's counsel Ali Bovingdon in resolving this issue in time to allow school districts to incorporate the results of the settlement into their budget planning for FY2013.