The Education Department, noting its disagreement with a statement of Congressional intent, says it will not require states to earmark extra Chapter 2 block-grant money for “high cost” pupils.
New regulations for Chapter 2 contained in the Sept. 18 Federal Register mainly address questions of program administration, as required by technical amendments that were passed by the Congress in 1983.
In the report accompanying those amendments, the Congress stated its intent that “state Chapter 2 distribution formulas provide adjusted allocations to local educational agencies with only the greatest number or percentages of high-cost children, rather than allocations to lea’s with any number or percentage of such children.”
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, however, pointed out that this statement did not change the law but only indicated Congressional intent and that incorporating this change into regulations “would undermine the decisionmaking authority” of state officials, according to the Federal Register notice.
States may use 20 percent of their Chapter 2 money--$500 million this year--for administrative costs; the rest is distributed to lea’s based on a state-approved formula.
