Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Federal funds are currently allocated through four statutory formulas that are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state
- Basic Grants provide funds to LEAs in which the number of children counted in the formula (formula children) is at least 10 and exceeds 2 percent of an LEA's school-age population.
- Concentration Grants provide funds to LEAs that are eligible for Basic Grants and in which the number of formula children exceeds 6,500 or 15 percent of an LEA’s the total school-age population.
- Targeted Grants are based on the same data used for Basic and Concentration Grants except that the data are weighted so that LEAs with higher numbers or higher percentages of children receive more funds. Targeted Grants are based on the same data used for Basic and Concentration Grants except that the data are weighted so that LEAs with higher numbers or higher percentages of formula children receive more funds. Targeted Grants provide funds to LEAs in which the number of formula children (without application of the formula weights) is at least 10 and at least 5 percent of the LEA's school-age population.
- Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG) distribute funds to States based on factors that measure:
- a State's effort to provide financial support for education compared to its relative wealth as measured by its per capita income; and
- the degree to which education expenditures among LEAs within the State are equalized.
Once a State's EFIG allocation is determined, funds are provided (using a weighted count formula that is similar to Targeted Grants) to LEAs in which the number of children from low-income families is at least 10 and at least 5 percent of the LEA's school-age population.
An LEA’s Title I allocation is the sum of the amount that the LEA receives under each formula. LEAs target the Title I funds they receive to schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. If a Title I school is operating a targeted assistance program, the school provides Title I services to children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards. Schools in which children from low-income families make up at least 40 percent of enrollment are eligible to use Title I funds to operate schoolwide programs that serve all children in the school in order to raise the achievement of the lowest-achieving students. LEAs also must use Title I funds to provide Title I services to eligible children enrolled in private schools. More information about Title I and other ESEA programs is available at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html.
