In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• Rhode Island
• Jacob D. Skousen (bio)

Approximately a decade ago, the Rhode Island state legislature reformed their state's public schools funding formula. This reform included novel principles to the ways in which funding "follow[ed]" students and a mechanism allowing "for disproportion in funding for local education agencies (LEAs) considering differences in per-pupil funding."¹ During the 2020 Rhode Island legislative session, these reforms were reviewed by a Special Legislative Task Force and substantive recommendations were made. Additionally, Rhode Island legislated changes to public school funding. There were nearly 30 bills² presented during the legislative session that could have impacted education and school funding, yet it was not a bill that led to funding changes, instead it was a global pandemic, COVID-19. This pandemic not only impacted school funding but also led to the closure of schools and implementation of online learning.

funding priorities for p-12 and higher education

Rhode Island enacted over $1.047 billion in P-12 education funding for the fiscal year (FY) 2020.³ Funding priorities in P-12 public school education included early childhood education, extension of school resource officer programs, and afterschool and extended day programs. While some of these programs, e.g. early childhood and reducing class sizes, have been funding priorities in previous legislative sessions, other priorities, e.g. school resource officer (SRO) programs designated to provide additional funding for newly hired SROs, were new. Further, with the pandemic and the passage of federal legislation such as the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Rhode Island increased aid to P-12 schools by $46.4 million.⁴ The majority of this funding, $41.7 million, was allocated "to purchase technology to support online learning, and administrative planning during long-term school closures".⁵ Finally, due to school closures, an SAT Waiver was written, reducing testing funds by $500,000 during FY 2020.

Rhode Island enacted $184,800,000 to higher education (HE) funding for FY 2020. The HE funding priorities included scholarship programs for students pursuing medical professions and monies to support the identification of post-secondary students [End Page 348] who were eligible to receive an exemption from paying nonresident tuition at public universities or colleges. Yet, it was the additional $29.5 million of funding received from the CARES Act that supported another priority. This priority would focus on emergency aid to HE students in the form of student grants. These monies were not eligible for all HE students, instead, "Only students who receive federal financial aid [were] eligible for the emergency aid. This exclude[d] undocumented and foreign students, as well as students enrolled exclusively in online coursework."⁶

changes to funding formula for p-12

While there were not changes to the P-12 funding formula, the Special Legislative Task Force to Study Rhode Island's Education Funding Formula released their findings and recommendations. Among these findings was quantifying the amount of additional funds that were generated since the change in the funding formula. Released in this report, the chairman of the state's task force stated, "Now reaching full implementation, the formula [that was implemented in 2010] has delivered 280 million additional dollars to schools across our state…"⁷ Additionally, the task force made 15 recommendations. These recommendations included requirements for the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to annually publish the "state and local share calculations as part of the budget process,"⁸ improve efficacy, and address issues related to the weight and programing for English language learners, students who have been identified as living in poverty, and students who have special needs. Additionally, the SLTF recommended adopting a "Massachusetts-style model, where the total amount of an LEA's budget… can be allocated to charter school tuitions [and] is tied to an LEA's student performance data and providing superintendents in LEAs with power to approve students to attend pathways at alternative LEAs."

pressing state issues affecting p-12 and/or higher education funding

While the goals from Rhode Island's strategic plan, 2020 Vision for Education,⁹ included many priorities, e.g. early childhood education, teacher and leader support, the most pressing issue affecting P-12 and...

中文翻译：

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罗德岛

代替摘要，这里是内容的简要摘录：

• 罗德岛
• 雅各布·D·斯科森（生物）

大约十年前，罗德岛州议会对州立公立学校的资助公式进行了改革。这项改革包括为“跟随”学生提供资金的方式的新颖原则，以及允许“考虑到每个学生的资金差异的地方教育机构（LEA）的资金分配不均的机制”。¹在2020年罗德岛州立法会议期间，特别立法工作组对这些改革进行了审查，并提出了实质性建议。此外，罗德岛州立法修改了公立学校的经费。共有近30张钞票²在立法会议上提出的建议可能会影响教育和学校的资金投入，但并不是导致资金变化的法案，而是全球性大流行COVID-19。这种大流行不仅影响了学校的资金投入，而且导致学校关闭和实施在线学习。

P-12和高等教育的资助重点

罗德岛州在2020财政年度（PY2020）实施了超过10.47亿美元的P-12教育资金^。3 P-12公立学校教育的资金重点包括早期儿童教育，扩展学校资源官员计划以及课后和延长日制计划。尽管其中一些计划（例如，儿童早期阶段和缩小班级规模）在以前的立法会议上一直是资助重点，但其他优先事项（例如，为新雇用的SRO提供额外资助的学校资源官员（SRO）计划）却是新的。此外，随着大流行和联邦法律的通过，例如《冠状病毒援助救济和经济安全（CARES）法案》，罗德岛州向P-12学校提供的援助增加了4,640万美元。⁴这笔资金中的大部分（4,170万美元）被分配用于“购买技术以支持在线学习以及长期停课期间的行政规划”。⁵最后，由于学校停课，SAT豁免被写入，到2020财年，测试资金减少了500,000美元。

罗德岛州（Rhode Island）于2020财年为高等教育（HE）拨款184,800,000美元。HE资助重点包括为追求医学专业的学生提供奖学金计划和用于支持大专生身份识别的款项[结束第348页]有资格获得免税的公立大学或学院的非居民学费的人。然而，从《 CARES法案》获得的额外2,950万美元的资金支持了另一个优先事项。该优先级将侧重于以学生助学金的形式向HE学生提供紧急援助。这些款项不是所有HE学生的资格，而是“只有获得联邦财政援助的学生才有资格获得紧急援助。这不包括无证和外国学生，以及专门从事在线课程学习的学生。” ⁶

更改p-12的供资公式

虽然P-12的拨款方式没有变化，但研究罗德岛州教育经费公式的特别立法工作组发布了他们的发现和建议。在这些调查结果中，量化了自从改变筹资方式以来产生的额外资金数量。该州工作队主席在该报告中发表的声明说：“现在，该计划已全面实施，（2010年实施的）公式为我们全州的学校又增加了2.8亿美元……” ⁷此外，工作队还做出了15建议。这些建议包括罗德岛州教育局（RIDE）每年发布“州和地方份额计算作为预算过程的一部分”的要求，[ ^8]提高功效，并解决与英语学习者，被确认为生活贫困的学生以及有特殊需要的学生的体重和计划有关的问题。此外，SLTF建议采用“马萨诸塞州风格的模型，其中LEA的预算总额……可以分配给特许学校的学费[并且]与LEA的学生成绩数据联系在一起，并向LEA的院长提供批准学生的权力参加替代性LEA的途径。”

影响p-12和/或高等教育经费的紧迫国家问题

尽管罗德岛州战略计划《 2020年教育愿景》的目标⁹包含了许多优先事项，例如幼儿教育，教师和领导者的支持，这是影响P-12和...的最紧迫的问题。