A new report by the Center on Education Policy has found that with Title 1 funds remaining essentially flat over the last two years, a majority of states are unable to reserve the full amount of funds required for school improvement under No Child Left Behind.
The report, “Title 1 Funds: Who’s Gaining and Who’s Losing, School Year 2007-08 Update,” analyzes 2007-08 Title 1, Part A allocations from the U.S. Department of Education. It found that the level of Title 1 funding received by some states and school districts is extremely volatile, due to updated calculations made each year under the law’s funding formulas.
Among the report’s key findings:
• Three states will not be able to reserve any funds for school improvement, while 26 additional states will be unable to reserve the full amount. Of these states, 22 were also unable to reserve the full funding amount in 2006-07.
• Many school districts that were slated to receive increases in Title 1 funding under the U.S. DOE’s initial allocations will see their projected gains wiped out due to the NCLB requirement for states to reserve funds for school improvement activities. These districts include New York City Public Schools, the Houston Independent School District and the Atlanta Public Schools.
• Shifts in the population of low-income children within states have caused turbulence in the level of Title 1 funding received by states each year. For example, Illinois will receive an approximate 10 percent gain ($53.5 million) in 2007-08, with Wisconsin set to receive an additional 30 percent ($47 million) and Indiana expecting a 25 percent increase ($45.7 million). Meanwhile, California will experience a decrease of 5 percent ($80 million) since last year, while Florida will see a drop of 9 percent ($59.6 million) and New Jersey will lose 5 percent ($13 million).
CEP offers two key recommendations to address these funding issues:
• Congress should continue to appropriate separately for school improvement and increase that appropriation substantially.
• Congress should require the U.S. DOE and the U.S. Census Bureau to review the accuracy of estimates of low-income children and consider other options to calculate grants, such as averaging the two most recent census estimates.
To access the report in its entirety, visit CEP online at www.cep-dc.org.