HB4948 Summary: Acceleration of School Funding Equity Act of 2020

• Requires school districts to pay the employer normal cost of teacher pensions beginning in fiscal year 2021, shifting this financial responsibility from the state to local districts.

• Appropriates funds from the Common School Fund to the State Board of Education starting fiscal year 2021 to reimburse school districts for employer normal cost pension payments, distributed through the evidence-based funding formula.

• Modifies the Base Funding Minimum calculation for fiscal years 2021-2022 and beyond to exclude "excess state payments" in a phased manner (33% exclusion in 2021-2022, 66% in 2022-2023, and 100% thereafter), with excluded amounts redistributed as new state funds.

• Updates the employee benefits investment calculation in the Adequacy Target to include employer normal costs of teacher pensions for both Teachers' Retirement System (Article 16) and Chicago Public School Teachers' Pension Fund (Article 17) beginning fiscal year 2021.

• Takes effect upon becoming law and applies to all school districts, including those organized under Article 34 of the School Code.