Prohibits total education aid paid to any local education agency from being reduced by more than one percent (1%) of the municipal education appropriation in the previous fiscal year.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would set a limit on how much the state can cut education funding to local school districts in any given year. Specifically, it says that the state cannot reduce a school district's total education aid by more than 1% of what the local town or city spent on education the previous year. In other words, if a community spent $10 million on education last year, the state could not cut that district's aid by more than $100,000 in a single year.

The bill affects all local school districts (called "local education agencies") across Rhode Island, as well as the state government, which distributes education funding. For school districts that receive significant state aid, this protection could be important — without such a limit, a district could potentially face large, sudden funding cuts that would be difficult to absorb quickly. This kind of rule is sometimes called a "hold harmless" or funding floor provision.

The goal of the bill appears to be providing financial stability and predictability for local schools, giving districts more time to plan and adjust their budgets if state funding does change. It is currently in the early stages of the legislative process, having been introduced and referred to the Senate Finance Committee for review. No final action has been taken on it yet.