BATON ROUGE – The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a new statewide funding formula Wednesday that would see an additional $71.3 million put toward employee pay, workforce development, tutoring and operational costs for the 2024-25 school year.

The Minimum Foundation Program, which defines the cost of a minimum program of education for all public elementary and secondary schools in Louisiana, aligns with recommendations from the Louisiana Department of Education. School districts, charter schools, lab schools and state schools utilize MFP dollars to fund expenses. The MFP formula's total funding is over $4 billion.

The key components include:

- A $4,015 base per pupil amount provided to school systems,  

- $25 million allocated to continue differentiated compensation provision for teacher pay, 

- $2 million to provide school systems with support for apprenticeships and internships,

- $30 million allocated to support literacy and math tutoring, and

- $14.3 million added to help school systems meet rising operational expenses.

BESE also unanimously adopted a separate resolution urging lawmakers to appropriate funds for educator and support staff pay stipends in the 2024-25 state budget. The resolution reflects a similar resolution adopted by BESE’s MFP Task Force, as well as the $198 million teacher stipend provision in Governor Jeff Landry’s proposed executive budget. 

“While we understand the budget realities that lawmakers are grappling with, it is important that our state prioritize the needs of K-12 education and recognize the incredible efforts of its teachers and support staff by providing them with a meaningful monetary stipend,” BESE President Ronnie Morris said.

Complete details on the MFP formula are available here.