SCHOOLS: Creates and provides for a task force to study the minimum foundation program formula and recommend permanent, predictable funding for pay raises for teachers and support staff.

2026 Regular Session Introduced by Roy Adams and 30 co-sponsors

Establishes a task force to study and redesign Louisiana’s MFP with permanent, recurring funding to raise teacher and support staff pay, reporting by Jan 1, 2027.

Read by title, concurred in by vote of 94 yeas, 0 nays.

Summary of SCR 80 (2026) – Louisiana

Purpose and intent

Establishes a task force to conduct a comprehensive, top-to-bottom study of Louisiana’s Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) and to develop a structured framework for permanent, predictable funding dedicated to teacher and support staff pay raises.

Aims to create a modernized, transparent, and sustainable funding mechanism that is not reliant on one-time or nonrecurring revenues, aligning with fiscal discipline and constitutional constraints.

Key provisions and changes proposed

Creates a task force with a broad membership, including legislative leaders, committee chairs, the governor or designee, and representatives from educational organizations (e.g., Louisiana Federation of Teachers, BESE), school boards, superintendents, and the business community.

The task force’s mandate:

Perform a comprehensive review of the MFP, its history, structure, and funding mechanisms.
Prepare a proposed revised or replacement formula structure and language suitable for consideration within the constitutional MFP process.
Develop a transition framework to consolidate or reweight existing allocations and legacy components to support a modern, coherent formula.
Identify permanent, recurring funding mechanisms that comply with constitutional and fiscal constraints to fund teacher and support staff pay raises.
Address specific design questions, including how compensation funding should be treated within the formula (base, weights, separate allocations, etc.), and how student counts and expenditures are tracked and reported.

Required outputs:

A report with proposed recommendations and formula language to the legislature and the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library by January 1, 2027.
A proposed revised or replacement MFP structure and a transition plan.

Scope includes evaluating:

Historical development of the MFP and its revisions.
BESE’s annual adoption process and legislative constraints on modifying BESE-submitted formulas.
Methods for counting students and handling enrollment volatility.
Transparency and accountability mechanisms, including the 70% expenditure requirement and how funds reach classrooms and paychecks.
Potential permanent, recurring funding sources that avoid nonrecurring revenue.

Procedural specifics:

Appointments due by July 1, 2026.
The task force convenes at the chair’s call and can elect officers.
Members serve without compensation, though they may receive per diem/expenses.
The task force terminates on the later of the report submission or January 1, 2027.

Who would be affected

State education funding policy and formula design for K-12 education through the MFP.

School systems (parish and city) funded under the MFP, particularly with respect to teacher and support staff compensation.

Stakeholders including teachers, support staff, school administrators, BESE, and legislative committees involved in education funding.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Introduced and referred in 2026; rules suspended May 26, 2026.

Appointments due by July 1, 2026.

Final report and recommended formula language due by January 1, 2027.

The resolution explicitly permits a zero-base redesign rather than incremental changes and emphasizes compliance with constitutional and fiscal constraints.