BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's system for funding public schools is outdated, according to a report by Louisiana Kids Matter.

The report includes changes to the current funding system, Louisiana's Minimum Foundation Program, that would send money to schools based on students' needs.

The current system determines how much money each school system receives based on the number of students as well as local wealth, with schools receiving extra money if they serve students with additional needs, such as students who require special education or are economically disadvantaged.

The report says that this system has become burdened by numerous add-ons that create misalignment between funding and state priorities and suggests streamlining funding by adopting sustainable guidelines for regularly updating the base amount per pupil and supporting educator pay through sharing state and local costs. 

Louisiana is currently projected to send about $4.3 billion in state funds to K-12 public schools for the 2026-2027 school year, according to the report. Currently, about $1 billion in state funds isn't weighted for student needs or local wealth.

Shifting separate funding streams to a weighted formula could give more money to schools with greater needs, according to the report, while also raising the base per-pupil amount of $4,015, which hasn't changed since 2019. 

The report says that changes to the system could cost the state an additional $330 million.