The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides 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: Provide opportunities for a well-rounded education for all students.
Title I Committee of Practitioners
The State Title I Committee of Practitioners serves as an advisory body that supports the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in carrying out its responsibilities under Title I of ESEA for the District of Columbia. Meetings are held quarterly and committee terms are usually three years. The State Title I Committee of Practitioners publicly posts its meeting agendas and meeting minutes.
New members are added to the committee annually by application and cover a range of roles within the education community. For more information and to apply, complete the application form.
Equitable Services
ESEA requires states and LEAs to provide equitable services to eligible private school students, teachers and other education personnel. Specifically, services for eligible private school students, teachers and other school personnel 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.
In the District of Columbia, DCPS is the only LEA required to provide equitable services to private school students because the public charter schools do not have school boundaries.
Per Pupil Expenditures and Maintenance of Effort
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in 2015, requires the District of Columbia and all states to publish per-pupil expenditures for each LEA and school on the annual state report card. These data also allow OSSE to annually verify LEAs are in compliance with ESEA’s maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements.
The ESSA Financial Reporting Guidelines provide guidance to LEAs on the reporting, collection, and dissemination of the per-pupil expenditure data. For more information or questions concerning this announcement, please email [email protected].
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.
District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) - DCPS must demonstrate that the methodology used to allocate state and local funds to each Title I school ensures that each Title I school receives all state and local funds it would otherwise receive without federal Title I funds. DCPS is required to submit an SNS-compliant budget methodology to OSSE annually.
DC public charter school LEAs - OSSE interprets US Department of Education (USED) guidance and the DC School Reform Act to mean that DC charter school LEAs need not demonstrate Title I SNS compliance to OSSE but must continue to show SNS compliance for ESEA Titles I-IV.
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 Posted: Dec. 8, 2022]