The Arkansas House and Senate approved separate bills that would increase the per-student funding amount with a key difference centering on schools that have added transportation costs.

The bills would provide additional funding for those districts that spend more than $297 per student based on enrollment and not the number that are transported, which Gov. Mike Beebee has said he opposes because districts would receive unequal amounts.

His office said the inclusion of transportation in the bills could re-open the Lake View school funding case of 2001, which challenged revised funding statutes put in place after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that the state's funding formula was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause. A jury trial decision stated that a constitutional finance system must be based on the amount of money needed to provide an adequate educational system and that "an adequacy [cost] study is necessary and must be conducted forthwith.” The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the ruling.

An analysis showed that the new Senate proposal would increase per-student funding to $6,137 from the current level of $5,905. The House proposal would increase the per-student amount to $6,144.

"However, I think the most money that I saw going to any one district is about $50,000 except for the two districts here in Little Rock, which are major metropolitan," said Mike Simmons, the senior transportation manager at the Arkansas Department of Education. "I would say that the average amount that would be received by most districts is between $10,000 and $25,000.

"You and I both are aware that those amounts aren’t going to make or break a district."

Simmons also pointed out that there is no categorical funding for transportation. Instead, the money is included in the foundation funding formula that comes out of a school district's operating budget without any categorical restrictions.