Title grants are authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title I, Part A §§ 1111-1127 and Part VIII General Provisions. These acts provide Title grants to states and local education agencies (LEAs) with the intent of supporting equal educational opportunity for all students. The Title grants focus on the following efforts:
- Title I-A: Support children from low-income families in receiving a high-quality education;
- Title II-A: Improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers and school leaders in K-12 schools;
- Title III-A: Support students who are learning English as a second language; and
- Title IV-A: Improve schools with LEA-level supports.
Distribution and Management of ESEA Grants to LEAs
States distribute Title funds to LEAs according to the percentage of students who come from low-income families and attend their schools. Title funds support the goals of the respective Title grant programs through grant management, training, and monitoring. States report the use of these funds annually to the US Department of Education. Recent reporting can be found on OSSE’s ESEA Data and Reporting webpage.
Establishing a Title I Committee of Practitioners
Each state is required to coordinate a State Title I Committee of Practitioners. This group supports states in carrying out their responsibilities under Title I of ESEA. The membership of the State Title I Committee of Practitioners must meet certain federal requirements to ensure that a range of stakeholders are represented.
Equitable Services
ESEA requires states and LEAs to provide equitable services to eligible private school students, teachers and other education personnel. Specifically, these services must be:
- appropriately awarded by allocation requirements; and
- developed in consultation with officials of the private schools.
In addition, families of eligible private school students must be allowed to participate, on an equitable basis, in the parent and family engagement activities of Title I-A.
Maintenance of Effort
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requires LEAs to maintain a consistent floor of state and local funding for free public education from year to year. ESSA amended the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to eliminate an exemption for charter schools from ESEA’s MOE requirements. All DC public charter LEAs must comply with MOE under ESEA.
Supplement Not Supplant
As amended by ESSA, LEAs may only use federal ESEA Title I-A funds to supplement and not supplant (SNS) state and local funds that would otherwise be made available for the education of students participating in Title I programs.
Additional details about ESEA, ESSA, and Title grants can be found on the U.S. Department of Education website.
Additional ESEA Information
For additional information about ESEA, please select the links below.
Contact Us
For questions or additional information about ESEA Title grants, please email [email protected].
ESEA Title grants are administered by OSSE’s Office of Federal Programs and Strategic Funding within the Division of Systems and Supports, K-12.
[Date Published: Dec. 8, 2022]