The Education Department announced in the May 21 edition of the that it is accepting comments on the application for the Flexibility for Equitable Per-Pupil Funding program authorized under ESEA .
The program provides “local educational agencies with flexibility to consolidate eligible federal funds and state and local education funding in order to create a single school funding system based on weighted per-pupil allocations for low-income and otherwise disadvantaged students.”
Under the initiative, the Education secretary can enter into agreements with LEAs that submit an application with a list of assurances as well as information about how it will consolidate and use federal, state, and local funding to support weighted per-pupil allocations to meet the needs of low-income and other disadvantaged students.
According to ESEA (d)(2), an LEA’s student-centered funding system based on weighted per-pupil allocations must:
- Allocate state and local education funds and eligible federal funds to schools based on the number of students in a school and a formula using per-pupil weighted amounts.
- Allocate a significant percentage of all the LEA’s state and local education funds and eligible federal funds to schools as agreed upon during the application period.
- Use weights or allocation amounts that allocate substantially more funding to English learners, students from low-income families, and students with any other characteristics associated with educational disadvantage chosen by the LEA than to other students.
- Ensure that each high-poverty school, in the first year of the local flexibility demonstration agreement, receives more per-pupil funding for low-income students than the previous year.
- Ensure that each high-poverty school, in the first year of the local flexibility demonstration agreement, receives at least as much per-pupil funding for English learners as the previous year.
- Include all school-level personnel expenditures for instructional staff (including staff salary differentials for years of employment) and actual non-personnel expenditures in the calculation of the funds allocated under the system to schools.
The program allows LEAs to consolidate the following federal ESEA funding streams:
- Title I, Part A: Improving basic programs operated by LEAs.
- Title I, Part C: Education of migratory children.
- Title I, Part D, Subpart 2: Local prevention and intervention programs for children and youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at risk.
- Title II: Preparing, training, and recruiting high-quality teachers, principals, or other school leaders.
- Title III: Language instruction for English learners and immigrant students.
- Title IV, Part A: Student support and academic enrichment grants
- Title V, Part B: Rural education initiative
ED officials anticipate 10 LEAs will apply for this flexibility. ED also removed the application deadline for the program; officials said applications will now be accepted at any time.
To comment on the application by June 21, go to and search for docket number ED-2021-SCC-0040.
—covers education funding and other Title I issues for LRP Publications.
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