Often mentioned, whether it involves the state’s budget or how funds are distributed to schools, the Missouri Foundation Formula or school funding formula is basically a step-by-step plan for figuring out how much the state should spend each year on Kindergarten through Grade 12 education.
The formula was created to achieve an important goal: Ensure every district has enough funding to provide an adequate education for students, no matter where they live. The formula is an attempt to balance factors including the number of students in a district, the cost of living in various districts, available local revenue, and the number of students with special needs.
The Missouri General Assembly and Governor Mike Parson (R) set the Foundation Formula for Fiscal Year 2025 at $3.785 billion, which will fully fund the formula.
The current formula provisions are the following: Weighted Average Daily Attendance x State Adequacy Target x Dollar Value Modifier – (minus) Local Effort = State Funding.
The Weighted Average Daily Attendance represents the pupil count in the formula. Districts and charter schools receive credit for the highest value of the current year or the first or second preceding regular school year average daily attendance, plus the average daily attendance for the most recent summer school. Other weightings are included for student populations who cost more to educate, including students who receive free and reduced price lunches, students who have individual education plans, and those with limited English proficiency.
NOTE: Omnibus education legislation (Senate Bill 727), which was passed by the General Assembly in April and signed by the Governor in May, modifies the definition of “weighted average daily attendance” as used in the education funding formula by adding to such definition a weighting factor relating to school district enrollment. The new weighting factor will go into effect in FY 2026.
“Membership” is defined in current law as the average number of students enrolled in a school district who attended school at least one day during 10 days at the end of January and September.
Senate Bill 727 defines “weighted membership” as the current law definition of “membership” multiplied by certain weighting factors relating to the number of students who fall into certain population groups, such as the number of students who receive special educational services above a certain threshold number that is determined in a manner provided for in current law.
Weighted membership shall be included in the calculation of a school district’s weighted average daily attendance beginning in the 2026 fiscal year. In 2026, a district’s weighted average daily attendance shall be calculated as the sum of 90 percent of such district’s weighted average daily attendance as calculated in current law, plus 10 percent of such district’s weighted membership. The percent of weighted membership included in such calculation shall increase by 10 percent each year until 2030, when a district’s weighted average daily attendance shall be calculated as the sum of 50 percent of such district’s weighted average daily attendance as calculated in current law, plus 50 percent of such district’s weighted membership.
The Foundation Formula’s State Adequacy Target was first calculated as the average current expenditures of Performance Districts and has remained at $6,375 for the last three calculations.
The State Adequacy Target is meant to be re-evaluated every two years by the General Assembly and adjusted for inflation, but it has shrunk over the past 17 years. In 2007, the target was $9,575 after adjusting for inflation. In 2024, it was $6,375 after not being adjusted for the past four years. During those four years, inflation rose 20 percent while the Foundation Formula was funded at about the same level.
The Dollar Value Modifier is an amount which represents an index of the relative purchasing power of a dollar based on regional wage ratios; districts in areas with higher wage rates receive additional funding.
Local Effort is the amount that represents the local tax dollars the district receives, and districts can levy higher or lower tax levies as approved by local patrons.
Also built into the Foundation Formula are hold-harmless provisions, which are designed to ensure no district receives less funding due to the change from one formula calculation method to another.
Overall, Missouri ranks 35th in the nation in per-pupil spending.