School Funding Reform

For the last thirty years, Alabama schools have been funded largely based on headcount and not the unique needs of students. Providing schools with the resources and funds they need to educate their students is critical. Research shows that investing $1,000 more per student is equivalent to adding 72 days of learning. In Alabama, schools have not been funded adequately. In 2022, Alabama spent only $6,957 per pupil through the Foundation Program, which was approximately $4,000 less per pupil than the national average.

Prior to 2025, Alabama schools were funded through the Foundation Program at the state level. These funds are combined with local and federal dollars at the district level. The Foundation Program is a resource-based formula passed by the legislature in 1995, and it allocated funding to school districts based on student count, rather than student needs. Alabama was one of only six states still using this type of formula. The budget only allocated 1.2% of funds to student needs, such as additional resources for students in poverty, with disabilities, or English learners. 41 states have moved to a student-weighted formula, which provides additional funding to students with greater needs.

In 2025, the RAISE Act modernized Alabama’s 30-year-old funding formula and began the process of allocating more resources to the students who need them most. The RAISE Act creates a hybrid system, where the Foundation Program remains in place, and districts will receive additional dollars based on student needs. Now, school districts receive funding not solely based on the number of students they serve but on the needs those students have, including economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, English language learners, gifted students, and charter school students. Additional dollars can improve student outcomes through more reading specialists or interventionists, expanding afterschool and summer programs, and more innovative initiatives aimed at enhancing academic success, workforce readiness, and lifelong outcomes.

While the RAISE Act has shifted Alabama to a hybrid formula, continuing to invest in student needs and moving towards a fully student-weighted formula is critical for long-term improvement. In the meantime, the state must continue to increase funding to implement the RAISE Act effectively so all students can thrive.