FY2015 State Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Released: 2016-03-31T00:00:00

Introduction

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the primary source of federal aid to K-12 education. Title I-A is the largest program in the ESEA, funded at $14.4 billion for FY2015. Title I-A is designed to provide supplementary educational and related services to low-achieving and other students attending pre-kindergarten through grade 12 schools with relatively high concentrations of students from low-income families. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) determines Title I-A grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) based on four separate funding formulas: Basic Grants, Concentration Grants, Targeted Grants, and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG).

The ESEA was comprehensively reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95 ) on December 10, 2015. The ESSA made few changes to the Title I-A formulas. Changes to the Title I-A formulas under the ESSA will take effect beginning in FY2017.

This report provides final FY2015 state grant amounts under each of the four formulas used to determine Title I-A grants. For a general overview of the Title I-A formulas see CRS Report R44164, ESEA Title I-A Formulas: In Brief , by [author name scrubbed]. For a more detailed discussion of the Title I-A formulas, see CRS Report RL34721, Elementary and Secondary Education Act: An Analytical Review of the Allocation Formulas , by [author name scrubbed].

Methodology

Under Title I-A, funds are allocated to LEAs via state educational agencies (SEAs) using four different allocation formulas specified in statute: Basic Grants, Concentration Grants, Targeted Grants, and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG). Annual appropriations bills specify portions of each year's Title I-A appropriation to be allocated to LEAs and states under each of these formulas. In FY2015, about 45% of Title I-A appropriations were allocated through the Basic Grants formula, 9% through the Concentration Grants formula, and 23% through each of the Targeted Grants and EFIG formulas. Once funds reach LEAs, the amounts allocated under the four formulas are combined and used jointly.

For each formula, a maximum grant is calculated by multiplying a "formula child count," consisting primarily of estimated numbers of school-age children in poor families, by an "expenditure factor" based on state average per pupil expenditures for public K-12 education. In some formulas, additional factors are multiplied by the formula child count and expenditure factor. These maximum grants are then reduced to equal the level of available appropriations for each formula, taking into account a variety of state and LEA minimum grant provisions. In general, LEAs must have a minimum number of formula children and/or a minimum formula child rate to be eligible to receive a grant under a specific Title I-A formula. Some LEAs may qualify for a grant under only one formula, while other LEAs may be eligible to receive grants under multiple formulas.

Under three of the formulas—Basic, Concentration, and Targeted Grants—funds are initially calculated at the LEA level. State grants are the total of allocations for all LEAs in the state, adjusted for state minimum grant provisions. Under EFIG, grants are first calculated for each state overall and then are subsequently suballocated to LEAs within the state using a different formula.

Final FY2015 grants included in this report were calculated by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The percentage share of funds allocated under each of the Title I-A formulas was calculated by CRS for each state by dividing the total grant received by the total amount allocated under each respective formula.

FY2015 Title I-A Grants

Table 1 provides each state's grant amount and percentage share of funds allocated under each of the Title I-A formulas for FY2015. Total Title I-A grants, calculated by summing the state level grant for each of the four formulas, are also shown in Table 1 .

Overall, California received the largest total Title I-A grant amount ($1.7 billion) and, as a result, the largest percentage share (11.81%) of Title I-A grants. Wyoming received the smallest total Title I-A grant amount ($33.1 million) and, as a result, the smallest percentage share (0.23%) of Title I-A grants.

In general, grant amounts for states vary among formulas due to the different allocation amounts for the formulas. For example, the Basic Grant formula receives a greater share of overall Title I-A appropriations than the Concentration Grant formula, so states generally receive higher estimated grant amounts under the Basic Grant formula than under the Concentration Grant formula.

Among states, Title I-A grant amounts and the percentage shares of funds vary due to the different characteristics of each state. For example, Texas has a much larger population of children included in the formula calculations than North Carolina and, therefore, receives a higher estimated grant amount and larger share of Title I-A funds.

Within a state, the percentage share of funds allocated may vary by formula, as certain formulas are more favorable to certain types of states (e.g., EFIG is generally more favorable to states with comparatively equal levels of spending per pupil among their LEAs). If a state's share of a given Title I-A formula exceeds its share of overall Title I-A funds, this is generally an indication that this particular formula is more favorable to the state than formulas for which the state's share of funds is below its overall share of Title I-A funds. For example, New York and Nevada received a substantially higher percentage share of Targeted Grants than of their overall Title I-A funds, indicating that the Targeted Grant formula is more favorable to them than other Title I-A formulas may be. At the same time, both states received a smaller percentage share of Basic Grants than of their overall Title I-A funds, indicating that the Basic Grant formula is less favorable to them than other Title I-A formulas may be.

In states that receive a minimum grant under all four formulas (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont), the shares under the Targeted Grant and EFIG formulas are greater than under the Basic or Concentration Grant formulas, due to higher state minimums under these formulas. All states receiving a minimum grant under any of the four Title I-A formulas are denoted with an asterisk (*) in Table 1 .