Breaking: First Estimates Show Some School Districts Gain, Some Lose From New Formula

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI-TV) – The first dollar amounts come out Thursday to estimate the gains or losses Mississippi school districts could face if a new school-funding formula becomes law.

The Associated Press has analyzed the report from the group EdBuild, the consulting firm Republican lawmakers hired to create a new way to fund education.

EdBuild has proposed a significant increase to the education budget as part of its plan. The group recommends a $75 million increase in funding, which is 3 percent more than the current formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. MAEP has been fully-funded twice in the 20 years it’s been in place.

Below is a table ranking the districts by their estimated gains or losses. Area districts are in bold. The first number is per student. The second number is an overall difference for the district.

Benton County: $1,114, $1,325,742

Holmes County: $1,110, $3,206,928

East Tallahatchie: $1,013, $1,225,835

Durant: $1,007, $527,473

Poplarville: $922, $1,760,096

Noxubee County: $910, $1,536,936

Wilkinson County: $900, $1,108,544

Greene County: $863, $1,758,402

Jefferson County: $836, $1,058,940

Leflore County: $734, $1,722,277

Franklin County: $685, $906,699

North Tippah: $660, $888,242

Columbia: $655, $1,134,226

Jones County: $640, $5,431,765

Lee County: $623, $4,412,924

Yazoo City: $617, $1,492,397

Greenwood: $602, $1,674,081

North Pike: $600, $1,485,762

Union County: $590, $1,665,124

Jefferson Davis County: $586, $850,866

Humphreys County: $570, $985,008

Greenville: $550, $2,851,367

South Panola: $548, $2,376,301

Quitman County: $546, $617,131

Booneville: $538, $732,606

DeSoto County: $538, $17,714,980

Forest: $535, $870,843

Nettleton: $530, $700,211

Union: $530, $538,136

Cleveland: $528, $1,890,655

Scott County: $524, $2,127,446

Quitman: $524, $992,068

New Albany: $522, $1,127,783

Houston: $518, $921,968

Philadelphia: $518, $555,892

South Tippah: $517, $1,436,434

Newton: $515, $490,629

Itawamba County: $502, $1,772,368

Amory: $501, $877,949

Lincoln County: $490, $1,565,454

West Bolivar: $483, $671,414

Lafayette County: $478, $1,293,624

Corinth: $471, $1,213,480

Richton: $470, $334,342

Kosciusko: $465, $1,096,735

Pearl River County: $463, $1,398,562

Prentiss County: $461, $1,077,260

West Point: $458, $1,460,246

George County: $456, $1,860,750

Tate County: $455, $1,268,571

Senatobia: $453, $808,571

Neshoba County: $453, $1,525,496

Pearl: $452, $1,869,565

Perry County: $449, $520,843

Tishomingo County: $448, $1,414,608

Pontotoc County: $447, $1,588,557

Petal: $439, $1,778,229

Stone County: $438, $1,144,654

Jackson County: $433, $4,005,550

Pontotoc: $430, $979,631

Yazoo County: $409, $658,689

Ocean Springs: $395, $2,256,770

Hazlehurst: $391, $583,724

Winona: $389, $432,311

Louisville: $383, $1,086,541

Clarksdale: $382, $1,038,136

Jackson: $376, $10,313,138

Marshall County: $376, $1,221,480

Gulfport: $359, $2,279,016

South Delta: $358, $316,987

Lawrence County: $351, $783,039

Brookhaven: $345, $1,027,059

Columbus: $345, $1,390,916

McComb: $343, $921,694

North Panola: $339, $501,714

Water Valley: $330, $390,970

Grenada: $323, $1,303,964

Sunflower County: $315, $1,262,144

Harrison County: $313, $4,558,946

Leake County: $312, $900,259

Webster County: $311, $563,918

Coffeeville: $309, $173,145

Chickasaw County: $297, $144,754

Simpson County: $294, $1,095,746

Copiah County: $287, $771,043

Long Beach: $284, $918,611

Clinton: $284, $1,453,782

Lauderdale County: $280, $1,857,062

Laurel: $277, $884,945

Lamar County: $264, $2,628,752

Wayne County: $252, $826,200

Calhoun County: $234, $567,429

Monroe County: $232, $547,894

South Pike: $229, $387,901

Alcorn: $224, $718,011

Holly Springs: $221, $317,636

Walthall County: $200, $397,550

Starkville Oktibbeha: $200, $1,027,452

Okolona: $193, $133,048

Leland: $181, $154,795

Smith County: $172, $475,379

Meridian: $168, $914,312

Newton County: $155, $279,998

Carroll County: $111, $110,538

Marion County: $105, $218,985

Rankin County: $99, $1,901,860

Picayune: $85, $283,962

Lumberton: $76, $44,265

Hattiesburg: $66, $284,168

Hinds County: $50, $309,598

Forrest County: $46, $105,787

Natchez-Adams: -$53,-$188,638

Enterprise: -$64,-$60,687

Vicksburg Warren: -$72,-$588,920

Hollandale: -$74,-$43,645

West Jasper: -$76,-$109,611

Baldwyn: -$82,-$67,795

Tupelo: -$89,-$617,101

Coahoma County: -$108,-$169,414

Canton: -$116,-$414,571

Covington County: -$125,-$364,574

North Bolivar: -$143,-$160,543

Hancock County: -$257,-$1,142,604

Amite County: -$273,-$283,769

West Tallahatchie: -$287,-$228,479

Attala County: -$289,-$298,314

Western Line: -$292,-$541,882

East Jasper: -$366,-$345,526

Aberdeen: -$416,-$519,726

Pass Christian: -$456,-$914,827

Bay-Waveland: -$461,-$901,857

Claiborne County: -$581,-$865,860

Biloxi: -$688,-$4,060,327

Madison County: -$700,-$9,068,909

Oxford: -$870,-$3,573,231

Lowndes County: -$1,142,-$5,855,966

Tunica County: -$1,237,-$2,552,474

Moss Point: -$1,262,-$2,578,136

Pascagoula-Gautier: -$2,022,-$14,355,017

Kemper County: -$3,367,-$3,663,504

Montgomery County: -$3,618,-$958,842

Choctaw County: -$4,221,-$5,639,261

To reach the conclusions, The Associated Press took the base student cost, or amount allocated to educate a student with no special requirements, and then added extra per-student amounts proposed for special education students, gifted students, high school students and those learning English. Extremely rural districts also get an extra bump.

EdBuild proposes increasing amounts of extra funding for special education students according to three increasing tiers of disability. Because those figures aren’t readily available, AP’s estimate instead doubles the amount of money for each special education student.

Sources: AP calculations using data from EdBuild, Mississippi Department of Education, U.S. Census.