Tennessee Schools Rank High For Gains in Title I Funds

Tennessee schools have 33 million dollars more than last year in federal

funds for low-income students.  That’s the sixth largest gain in the nation.

There are two reasons for the increase.  First, this year’s federal budget

doubles the total available for the Title I program.  And then there’s the

state’s high poverty level.  Title I resources are allocated to school

districts, and from there to individual schools, based on the number of poor

children they educate.  So the poorer the population, the more money is

available.  With those two factors combined, Tennessee will see a 16 percent

increase over last year.  According to the Center on Education Policy, only

five other states will have larger gains.

Much of that money goes to Metro Nashville and Memphis City Schools.  The

systems have about thirty schools each on the high priority list for failing

to meet No Child Left Behind standards. Almost all of those schools have a

significant low-income population.  So an increase in Title I funding means

more resources for the effort to meet the standards.

Some of that money is only available for schools that are in trouble under

No Child Left Behind-funds for tutoring poor kids, or for transporting them

to a school other than the one they’re zoned to attend.  When the school’s

status improves, those funds go away.

Overall, Metro Schools will recieve nearly 27 million dollars in Title I

funds this academic year.  Of the surrounding counties, Sumner has the

largest allocation-about 3 million.

Web extra:

A CEP report explains how the level of funding for each district is

determined:

“Most of the funds appropriated for Title I are allocated to school

districts through the funding formula in Part A of the law (called Title I-A

in this report). The Title I-A formula actually consists of four distinct

components, each with different eligibility requirements. The Basic Grants

component distributes funds to almost all districts in the country, whereas

the other three components (Concentration, Targeted Assistance, and

Education Finance Incentive Grants, or EFIGs) distribute funds only to

districts with somewhat higher concentrations or numbers of low-income

children. The amount a district receives is the sum of its allocations under

each of the four components. The primary factor used in all of the formula

components is the number of low-income children residing in each school

district.2 Another important factor is the average

state per pupil expenditure, which has the effect of channeling more dollars

per low-income child to districts in states with high average per pupil

expenditure and fewer dollars to districts in states with low average per

pupil expenditures.”

That formula, combined with the drastic increase in overall federal funding

for Title I (from $434 million for the 2007-08 academic year to more than $1

billion for 2008-09), means that the difference in Title I funding between

states has grown exponentially.

Recent census estimates show that about a quarter of Tennessee children live

at or below the poverty line, so it’s little surprise that it’s one of the

states experiencing double digit percentage gains this year.

When it comes time to actually deliver the money, it’s given to states for

distribution.  The states are allowed to keep up to 5%.  1% is allowed to

cover the administrative costs of distributing the funds. The rest must be

set aside to pay for the tutoring or student transportation costs of Title I

eligible families in schools that are on the NCLB high priority list.

The following are the Fiscal Year 2008 Title I Grants to Local Educational

Agencies within WPLN’s listening Area, according to the US Department of

Education:

Bedford County $1,528,538

Cannon County $416.97

Cheatham County $807,284

Coffee County $769,701

Dickson County $1,388,840

Franklin (City) $431,734

Giles County $978,688

Hickman County $928,738

Houston County $351,726

Humphreys County $560,059

Lebanon (City) $612,882

Lewis County $540,889

Lincoln County $723,880

Macon County $829,099

Marshall County $965,277

Maury County $2,681,785

Montgomery County $5,159,948

Murfreesboro (city) $1,341,232

Nashville-Davidson $26,785,578

Putnam County $2,063,589

Robertson County $1,326,640

Rutherford County $2,874,288

Smith County $577,988

Sumner County $3,066,907

Trousdale County $232,801

Tullahoma City $820,401

Warren County $1,757,270

Williamson County $557,093

Wilson County $1,016,198