Title I Funding Flexibility

TITLE I FUNDING FLEXIBILITY -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 15, 2004)

SPEECH OF HON. FRANK R. WOLF
OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2004

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of legislation introduced by my friend and Virginia colleague Congressman TOM DAVIS to address needed flexibility in the Title I education program. Title I provides the majority of federal education money; however, these education dollars are tied to arbitrary thresholds of needy students.

A school district can go from just above the threshold to just below with the change of only a couple of percentage points. This means that the increase or loss of only a few needy students can bring a significant windfall of new federal money to a district or can devastate a school district that has received federal funds for years.

In northern Virginia there is one such district. Fairfax County, one of the largest school districts in the country, will likely lose nearly $3 million because of a loss of only a handful of qualifying students. The most recent census-defined poverty rates have dropped the county's population from just above 5 percent to just below 5 percent leaving the school district ineligible for most Title I federal funding. For years, Fairfax County School District has received Title I federal funds because more than 5 percent of the students were below the census-defined poverty rate.

While there are other school districts throughout the country facing similar difficulties, Fairfax County, which serves over 150,000 students, is the largest school division to be dropped out of eligibility for Title I grant programs and stands to lose the most money.

This legislation introduced today would provide school districts like Fairfax County with a multi-year phase down of these funds. This multi-year phase down will allow school districts time to plan for students' educational future. This flexibility would be particularly helpful for Fairfax County School District where the number of students below the poverty rate dropped by a such a small number.

Despite this current situation, Fairfax will maintain its commitment to education success and will have the same number of schoolwide Title I programs in the coming school year as it did before.

END