UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF PLANNING, EVALUATION AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT

December 9, 2016

The Honorable Thad Cochran

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Cochran:

I am writing to follow up on section 8205 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

(ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which includes certain 

requirements related to Department full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing for programs that were 

eliminated or consolidated by the ESSA.

Earlier this year, consistent with the requirements of section 8205, the Department published on 

its website information showing the number of FTE employees working on each of the programs 

authorized by the ESEA as it existed on the day before enactment of the ESSA. This information 

is available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/eseafte2016.pdf.

The information on the Department’s web site includes the number of FTE employees working 

on the six programs previously authorized by the ESEA that were eliminated or consolidated by 

the ESSA: School Improvement Grants, Mathematics and Science Partnerships, Transition to 

Teaching, Advanced Placement, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, and the Physical 

Education Program.

Section 8205 further requires the Department by December 10, 2016 to reduce its workforce by 

the number of FTE employees working on the six programs eliminated or consolidated by the 

ESSA and to report to Congress on this reduction in FTE as well as other information on FTE 

employees working on ESEA programs. 

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the Department is not yet able to complete its 

responsibilities under section 8205, for two reasons. First, subsequent to enactment of the ESSA, 

Congress passed and the President signed into law the Department of Education Appropriations 

Act, 2016, which included funding for five of the six programs eliminated or consolidated by the 

ESEA: School Improvement Grants, Mathematics and Science Partnerships, Advanced 

Placement, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, and the Physical Education Program. 

Consequently, the Department was required to administer these five programs for an additional 

year, a process that included making both new and continuation grants to State and local 

grantees. Furthermore, the Department and its staff continue to support the implementation of 

these grants through technical assistance and monitoring and must ensure satisfactory grantee 

performance, appropriate use of funds, and completion of all reporting consistent with statutory 

and regulatory requirements and the protection of taxpayer funds.
In addition, since we do not have a final fiscal year 2017 appropriations act for the Department 

of Education, the Department is unable to determine whether the five programs currently funded 

under the terms of the Public Law 114-223, the Continuing Appropriations and Military 

Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika 

Response and Preparedness Act will be eliminated or consolidated or which programs authorized 

by the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, will be funded in fiscal year 2017.

We do anticipate that by December 10, 2016, the Department will no longer require the 2.0 FTE 

previously dedicated to the administration of the Transition to Teaching program, which was last 

funded in fiscal year 2015. Following the completion of final appropriations action for fiscal 

year 2017, which we anticipate will clarify the full range of staffing and administrative 

requirements associated with the ESSA, the Department will complete its responsibilities under 

section 8205.

If you have additional questions, please have your staff contact me at 202-453-6938 or the Office 

of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, at 202-401-0020.

Identical letters have been sent to Senators Blunt, Alexander, Mikulski, and Murray, and to 

Representatives Rogers, Cole, Kline, Lowey, Delauro, and Bobby Scott.

Sincerely,

/s/

Erica Navarro

Director, Budget Service