Funded: State Policy Analysis

The District of Columbia has a primarily student-based formula. It assigns a cost to the education of a student with no special needs or services, called a base amount, and provides increased funding to educate specific categories of students. The categories of students considered in the District’s funding policy are students in certain grade levels, English-language learners, students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs.

The District of Columbia comprises a single taxing jurisdiction. Education revenue is collected by the District and appropriated to District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter districts for distribution to individual schools.

Supplemental funding for students in certain grade levels, English-language learners, students from low-income households, and students with disabilities is generated through the application of multipliers to the base amount. Services for students in CTE programs are funded through program-specific allocations.

The District of Columbia has a fixed base funding amount per student. For FY2021, the per-student base amount was $11,310.

This means that an average student with no special needs or disadvantages would be funded at that level.

The District of Columbia comprises a single taxing jurisdiction. Education revenue is collected by the District of Columbia and appropriated to school districts including District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter school districts for distribution to individual schools.

The District of Columbia comprises a single taxing jurisdiction. District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) cannot independently levy any taxes, including property taxes. Education revenue is collected by the District of Columbia and appropriated to school districts including DCPS and public charter school districts for distribution to individual schools.

The District of Columbia comprises a single taxing jurisdiction. District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) cannot independently levy any taxes, including property taxes. Education revenue is collected by the District of Columbia and appropriated to school districts including DCPS and public charter school districts for distribution to individual schools.

The District of Columbia provides different levels of funding for students in different grade levels. It does so by applying multipliers to the base per-pupil amount for students in three different grade spans.

For FY2021, the base amount was multiplied by 1.3 for students in kindergarten, 1.08 for students in grades 6-8, and 1.22 for students in grades 9-12. Students in grades 1-5 were funded at the base amount.

In FY2021, the District also applied two additional weights for prekindergarten students: 1.34 for 3-year-old students and 1.3 for 4-year-old students. The multipliers have been expressed this way for consistency with other states; funding is actually provided in an amount equal to 0.3, 0.08, or 0.22 times the per-pupil base amount, distributed in addition to the student’s own base amount funding. In addition, the funding formula weights are applied such that students in multiple categories generate supplemental funding for all of the categories to which they belong.

The District of Columbia provides increased funding for English-language learners. It does so by applying a multiplier to the base per-pupil amount for these students. In FY2021, this multiplier was 1.49.

Students are eligible to receive this supplemental funding if they are identified as English-language learners through a process involving a home language survey and approved screening assessment. The District also provides additional weighted funding, equal to 0.668 times the base amount in FY2021, to support the after-hours needs of English-language learners in residential schools.

The multipliers have been expressed this way for consistency with other states; funding is actually provided in an amount equal to 0.49 times the per-pupil base amount, distributed in addition to the student’s own base amount funding. In addition, the funding formula weights are applied such that students in multiple categories generate supplemental funding for all of the categories to which they belong.

The District of Columbia provides increased funding for students from low-income households. It does so by applying a multiplier to the base per-pupil amount for these students. In FY2021, this multiplier was 1.2256.

Students are eligible for this supplemental funding if they qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and/or if they are experiencing homelessness, are in foster care, or are high school students at least one year older than the expected age for their grade level.

The multipliers have been expressed this way for consistency with other states; funding is actually provided in an amount equal to 0.2256 times the per-pupil base amount, distributed in addition to the student’s own base amount funding. In addition, the funding formula weights are applied such that students in multiple categories generate supplemental funding for all of the categories to which they belong.

The District of Columbia funds special education using a multiple student weights system, providing different levels of funding for different categories of students. Students are assigned to four different categories based on the amount of specialized services they require.

Students are assigned to one of four support levels, ranging from students receiving fewer than eight hours per school week of specialized services to those receiving more than 24 hours per week of specialized services. Different multipliers are applied to the per-student base amount for students at the different levels. In FY2021, these multipliers ranged from 1.97 to 4.49. A separate multiplier of 1.17 was applied to the base amount for students enrolled in designated special education schools. The multipliers have been expressed this way for consistency with other states; funding is actually provided in an amount equal to 0.97, 3.49, or 0.17 times the per-pupil base amount, distributed in addition to the student’s own base amount funding. In addition, the funding formula weights are applied such that students in multiple categories generate supplemental funding for all of the categories to which they belong.

The District also provides weighted funding for special education students in extended-year programs and residential schools, with multipliers differentiated based on students’ support levels. Additional weighted funding is provided for all students with disabilities to support special education compliance efforts and attorney’s fees. Local education agencies that opt out of receiving federal grants under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act are not eligible to receive any weighted state funding for students with disabilities. Separate from the weighted formula calculation, funding is provided for the transportation of students with disabilities.

The District of Columbia does not provide increased funding for gifted and talented students.

The District of Columbia provides increased funding for career and technical education (CTE) programs. It does so through two grant programs outside of its main funding formula.

The District provides funding for new and continuing career academies through the DC Career Academies program and for students’ CTE certification exam fees through the CTE Industry Recognized Credentials Program. In FY2021, the District provided $439,037 for the Career Academies program and $140,000 for certification exam fees.

The District of Columbia does not provide increased funding for schools based on the concentrations of students from low-income households that they serve. However, the District does provide funding for individual students from low-income households (for more information, see “Poverty”).

The District of Columbia does not provide increased funding for sparse areas or small schools.

Funding for charter schools in the District of Columbia is calculated based on the same formula used to calculate funding for traditional public schools.

Like traditional public schools, charter schools are funded through a student-based Like traditional public schools, charter schools are funded through a student-based funding formula that considers the characteristics of students they educate. This includes any additional funding generated by students in special programs and need categories. Charter schools receive funding directly from the government of the District of Columbia.

Click here to visit our charter funding site for more details.