JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has signed legislation that will change the way the state pays for public schools, ditching a formula that brought political pressure on lawmakers because they usually budgeted less money than required.

Republican Reeves signed the new plan, called the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, on Wednesday. When it becomes law on July 1, it will replace the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which was fully funded only two years since it was enacted in 1997.

The new formula is designed to give districts a boost in funding for students who can be more expensive to educate. For example, extra money would be calculated for students who live in poverty, those with special needs, those in gifted programs, those with dyslexia or those who are learning English as a second language.

The Mississippi Student Funding Formula would help poorer districts with weak local tax bases, said House Education Committee Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville.