Opinion ID: 1756151
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Compliance with Act 57

Text: Act 57 of the Second Extraordinary Session of 2003 provides that the General Assembly has a continuing duty to assess what constitutes an adequate education[.] Reports shall be filed by the House and Senate Interim Committees on Education with the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate by September 1 of each year before a regular session to comply with this act. The General Assembly fixed the foundation-funding amount at $5,400 for the 2004-2005 school year. The Masters concluded that Act 57 prescribes a framework for the General Assembly to determine foundation funding for subsequent years, but that [a]n Act 57 review and report were not performed before the 2005 regular session. The Masters further concluded that there was no evidence that the General Assembly attempted to comply with Act 57 and was thwarted by the lack of information. At the hearings before the Masters, the State raised a new argument that Act 57 did not apply to the 2005 regular session and that the adequacy study conducted in 2003 met the requirements of Act 57 for the session. The General Assembly was obligated to ascertain a foundation funding amount for the 2005-2006 school year, according to the Masters. No hearings were conducted by the interim committees, and the Department of Education was never asked to furnish any information. At the end of the 2005 regular session, the decision was made to freeze the foundation amount at $5,400 for the 2005-2006 school year and to provide a $97 increase for the 2006-2007 school year. There was no testimony to the interim committees that either figure was adequate. In addition, several problems and concerns with the foundation-funding formula were discovered during the Masters' hearings, including:  differences in actual tax collections at the local level versus property assessments;  the impact of losing students in a school district on foundation funding and aid;  the limitations on the designated use of portions of the foundation funding; and  the impact of unfunded mandates and inflation. 10. Surplus Funds The actual surplus of state revenues at the end of the 2004-2005 fiscal year, according to the Department of Finance and Administration, was $307,217,154. Of that surplus, $107,800,000 remains in unallocated money. The Department of Finance and Administration forecast for the surplus at the end of the 2005-2006 fiscal year is $98,900,000, and for 2006-2007 is $68,700,000. The Director of the Department of Finance and Administration estimated the unappropriated surplus in the Educational Adequacy Trust Fund at $49,000,000.