House leaders resuscitated their revised school funding formula Wednesday – a day after the Senate killed it.

House Education Chair Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, successfully amended a bill dealing with failing school districts to insert into the legislation the Investing in the Needs of Students to Prioritize, Impact and Reform Education, or INSPIRE.

INSPIRE would replace the longstanding Mississippi Adequate Education Program as the vehicle used to provide state funds to local school districts for their basic operation. INSPIRE also would remove for the first time since the 1950s an objective funding formula as a determinant of how much each local school district should receive.

For years various public officials have been calling for the elimination of the MAEP because they said the state could not afford the spending it calls for.

On Wednesday in reviving INSPIRE, Roberson said, “This will give us one more opportunity to give the Senate a chance to look at this and do what is best and right for our school children.”

The amended bill passed 103-16 and now goes back to the Senate.

The fight over the school funding formula could be one of the most contentious issues during the final weeks of the legislative session. House Speaker Jason White said, “I have clearly communicated with Senate leadership the House position that we have funded MAEP for the last time.”

READ MORE: Senate shelves House education funding rewrite. DeBar vows to work on it in off season

Before the vote, Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, and Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, their respective chambers’ minority leaders, issued a joint statement questioning the wisdom of the House’s effort to rush to passage of INSPIRE. Senate leaders said they have agreed to meet with House leaders and education officials to work on a possible new funding formula to be considered during next year’s session.

The Democratic leaders said, “No one in this building is under the illusion that MAEP is a perfect formula. However, scrapping it completely and in this fashion — quickly and without thorough vetting — isn’t the solution. And it’s certainly not the solution when some of the new formula’s architects and most vocal supporters are people who’ve historically sought to dismantle public education at every turn.”

They pointed out that many people who have embraced the formula and who even worked on its development have been supporters of sending public funds to private schools. They also have complained about the costs of MAEP.

Roberson and others have argued their INSPIRE plan directs more funds to at-risk students.

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