Districts Must Walk a Fine Line to Fund RTI Programs
As response to intervention becomes more popular, education leaders find the framework’s fluidity and broad application at times can be an awkward fit for some of the federal programs often used to pay for it.
The U.S. Department of Education has tried to encourage districts to pool federal formula grants for students in poverty, those in special education, English-language learners, and others with state and local money to support schoolwide RTI systems, but Melissa Junge, a lawyer with the Washington-based law firm Federal Education Group, said few districts manage to consolidate federal and local money fully. RTI’s individual student-focused philosophy often clashes with the rigid, decades-old school infrastructure of services provided based on students’ grant eligibility.
“While not impossible, using federal grant funds to support a comprehensive approach such as RTI can be very...
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