An Act To Equalize the Regional Salary Cost Index under the School Funding Formula

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15682,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 519, Pt. AAAA, §9, is further amended to read:

§ 15682. Regional adjustment

The commissioner shall make a regional adjustment in the total operating allocation for each school administrative unit determined pursuant to section 15683. The regional adjustment must be based on the regional differences in teacher salary costs within labor market areas in the State, as computed by a statewide education policy research institute, and must be applied only to appropriate teacher salary and benefits costs as calculated under section 15678 and salary and benefit costs of other school-level staff who are not teachers as calculated under section 15679. Beginning in fiscal year 2010-11, the regional adjustment must be 1.0 for all labor market areas in the State.

summary

This bill requires that, beginning in fiscal year 2010-11, the regional adjustment to the salary and benefits costs of teachers and other school personnel that is based on labor market areas in the State must be 1.0 for all labor market areas in the State.