The Maryland State Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of Legislative Services, calculates, distributes (the State Share portion of State Aid), and monitors State Aid for Maryland's Local Education Agencies (LEAs). The State Aid formula, revisited most recently in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future legislation, includes thirteen Major Aid categories. They are:
Foundation Aid
| This program is the major State aid program for primary and secondary education, providing a foundation grant that estimates the amount of funding necessary to provide adequate resources to educate the average student. Over time the program has grown to include additional grants for various purposes, including (1) accounting for differences in the costs of providing educational resources among school systems, (2) ensuring that each school system received at least one percent annual increases in State aid in fiscal year 2009 and 2010, (3) changing the calculation of the net taxable income component of wealth in the education aid funding formula, (4) cushioning jurisdictions from formula aid reductions that result from declining enrollment, and (5) grants that account for the impact that tax increment financing districts have upon jurisdictional wealth. Starting in FY 2023, these grant programs have been consolidated under the new Blueprint for Maryland's Future formulas, leaving (1) the foundation program and (2) grants accounting for differences in the costs of providing educational resources among school systems. |
Transportation Aid
| Maryland law mandates State funding for public school transportation based on a formula that increases funding by the change in the Consumer Price Index for private transportation in the Washington-Baltimore area for the second preceding fiscal year.
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Compensatory Education Aid
| This program includes the statutorily calculated allocation of compensatory education funds to local education agencies based on Free and Reduced Priced Meal Eligibility counts. In FY 2023, a hold harmless grant is provided to ensure that no school system sees a year-over-year decline in compensatory education aid despite enrollment impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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English Learner Aid
| Additional support for students with limited English proficiency.
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Special Education Aid
| Maryland law requires the identification, diagnosis, examination, and education of all students with disabilities, ages three through twenty, who are in need of special education services. Education Article Section 5-225 mandates the formula funding level by the State.
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Guaranteed Tax Base Aid
| This program provides additional State education aid to counties that 1) have less than 80 percent of the statewide average wealth per pupil, and 2) provide local education funding above the local share required by the Foundation Program. The program encourages less wealthy jurisdictions to maintain or increase local education tax effort.
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Comparable Wage Index (CWI) Aid
| The CWI grant provides additional State Aid to Local Education Agencies in areas where, relative to other parts of the state, local market and labor rates make the provision of educational services more costly.
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| Post College and Career Readiness Pathways Aid
| This program includes the statutorily calculated allocation of College and Career Readiness (CCR) grants to local education agencies based on the count of students who achieve the CCR standard adopted by the Maryland State Board of Education. The funding formula is outlined in Education Article 5-217.
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Concentration of Poverty Aid
| This program includes statutorily calculated grants, defined in Education Article 5-223, to schools with certain percentages of students eligible for Free and Reduced Priced Meals. First, each qualifying school receives a personnel grant to employ a community school coordinator. Second, per pupil grants are provided for each qualifying school.
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Transitional Supplemental Instruction Aid
| The Transitional Supplemental Instruction program provides additional resources to schools that enroll struggling learners in grades kindergarten, 1, 2, and 3.
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Prekindergarten Aid
| This program includes (a) grants to expand access to free public prekindergarten programs throughout Maryland and (b) Publicly Funded Full-day Prekindergarten grants mandated in Education Article Section 5-229 under the Blueprint for Maryland's Future formulas.
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Career Ladder Aid
| This program provides grants to encourage teacher development, including Career Ladder grants starting in FY 2023 under the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, as defined in Education Article 6-1009.
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This page includes the most recent, public release of State Aid calculations in the resources section, below. The downloadable State Aid file is in Excel format so that anyone who downloads the file can see and access the exact formulas the State uses to calculate State Aid for LEAs. The Department will continue to update this page in an effort to increase public understanding about the Blueprint funding formulas and related data, which determine school funding for school districts in Maryland.
Resources
Download the State Aid Calculation excel file (Updated June 26, 2022)