Section 25-2599.3 - Statewide costing-out study(a) The General Assembly directs the State Board of Education to conduct or provide for a comprehensive Statewide costing-out study to arrive at a determination of the basic cost per pupil to provide an education that will permit a student to meet the State's academic standards and assessments.(b) The study shall consider both adequacy and equity. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "equity" shall mean whether public resources being committed to education are distributed in such a way that all children, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status and geography, have an equal opportunity to succeed in school. For purposes of this subsection, the term "adequacy" shall mean whether sufficient resources, both State and local, are being committed to meet established performance standards and assure academic success for all.(c) The State Board of Education is authorized to hire or retain consultants, utilizing a request for proposal procedure, as necessary to assist in the performance of its duties under this section.(d) The State Board of Education shall consult with the following leaders in the development of the request for proposals, and the assent of a majority of the following leaders shall be required before the request for proposal shall be released: (1) The President pro tempore of the Senate or a designee.(2) The Speaker of the House of Representatives or a designee.(3) The Minority Leader of the Senate or a designee.(4) The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives or a designee.(e) At a minimum the study shall include all of the following:(1) Determine what educational resources and related expenditures are required to provide a quality primary and secondary education for each student in the Commonwealth's public schools. The study shall include examining exemplary school districts that are high-performing and low-spending school districts. As part of the determination to be conducted under this paragraph, a review shall be conducted of school district tax efforts in support of public schools, including both local and State tax support.(2) Examine the potential use of geographic cost-of-education indexing in the Commonwealth.(3) Investigate additional categories of funding that may be necessary to meet needs unique to schools and students, including all of the following: (ii) Limited English proficiency.(iii) Students with disabilities.(iv) Scarcity and density of population.(v) Issues related to the rural, urban or suburban nature of the school district.(vi) Issues related to research-based analysis of the difficulty of the educational task.(4) Study the issue of student population growth and decline to determine the cost impact of both factors.(f) The State Board of Education shall issue an interim report no later than six months after the date of the signing of a contract entered into under subsection (c) and shall provide a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the members of the General Assembly no later than one year from the date of the signing of a contract entered into under subsection (c).(g) Upon receipt of the final report, the Education Committee of the Senate and the Education Committee of the House of Representatives shall promptly review and consider the recommendations of the study and develop legislation as deemed appropriate.1949, March 10, P.L. 30, No. 14, art. XXV, § 2599.3, added 2006, July 11, P.L. 1092, No. 114, § 15.1, imd. effective.