Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2023
Abstract
Maine’s public school funding formula, the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) model, allocates resources for districts to support students who need supplemental English language instruction. The additional funds are calculated using a weighting procedure that adjusts the student count upward by a certain amount for each student identified as a Multilingual Learner (ML), formerly referred to as English Learners (ELs). By counting each ML as more than one student the district’s total allocation is increased. The additional weight is an estimate of the added cost of educating ML students relative to their non-ML peers and varies based on the size of the district’s Multilingual program. By Maine statute, each component of the EPS funding model is scheduled to be reviewed on a three-year cycle; in this iterative review of the ML component, we used district-level enrollment and expenditure data from SY2021 to summarize and describe expenditures supporting ML students and analyze ML education expenditures by district type. We also compare enrollment and spending in SY2018 and SY2021 to see if there have been changes.
Recommended Citation
Morris, Lisa PhD and Johnson, Amy F. PhD, "Essential Programs and Services Component Review: Multilingual Learner Student Component" (2023). Multi-language Learners . 1.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/eps_mlanglearn/1
