Russell, a Democrat from Theresa, has introduced legislation that will adjust the way school districts' wealth is measured. Generally speaking, the poorer a district is, the more aid it gets. But it’s not a true sliding scale at the top and bottom ends.
Right now, the poorest districts are all lumped together in the same category, even though some may be much poorer than others. The same is true of the richest districts – they're all seen on equal footing, even though some may be much richer than others.
In effect, this drives less money to the poorest of the poor districts and more money to the richest ones. Russell says that's a real problem when aid is being cut.