New Mexico Public Funding Formula
The Funding Formula Study Task Force (FFSTF), appointed by the New Mexico State Legislature and the Governor, and under the direction of the Legislative Council Service, commissioned AIR to conduct a comprehensive study on the current New Mexico public school funding formula.
The ultimate goals of this study included:
- obtaining public input on defining the goals, priorities and issues in public school finance;
- determining what it will cost to provide an adequate education for all New Mexican students;
- examining and potentially modifying the current funding formula to distribute the necessary resources; and
- assessing available potential revenue sources to fund these changes.
The bottom line estimates derived from this study in the final report (January 2008) suggest that state support for public schools should increase by 14.5 percent (or $334.7 million in 2007-08 dollars) to achieve sufficiency in New Mexico. On average, students in rural-remote districts require the highest per pupil expenditure ($12,507) to provide a sufficient education, while the average sufficient per pupil expenditures are lowest for districts that lie in urban areas ($7,666).
