Public School Choice Funding

NCLB requires that a school district spend an amount equal to 20 percent of its Title I, Part A allocation on a combination of the following:

However, guidance from the US Department of Education requires that an amount equal to 5 percent of the Title I, Part A allocation MUST be set aside for supplemental education services. This means that if a district is in danger of spending more than 15 percent of the allocation on choice transportation, not all of the children who wish to choose may be provided transportation. In this case, the district will give priority to the lowest-achieving students from low-income families.

A school district may use other non-Title I resources from Federal, State, local and private sectors to meet the “equal to” provision of the law. For instance, a school district may already provide transportation services, in which case, the district may count toward the 20 percent requirement, the portion of its transportation costs that is attributable to providing choice to students exercising the Title I choice option.