In a new report, the Government Accountability Office says that states are allocating their own money to help schools failing to make AYP under NCLB. The GAO estimates that since 2002 states used $2.6 billion of their own money for school improvement efforts. That’s double the $1.3 billion that states are required to set aside for school improvement from NCLB’s Title I. States also are using money from federal programs other than Title I to aid those schools.
GAO also that not all states can document how their schools are spending their Title I money for school improvement. In a joint statement, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., say the Department of Education should start monitoring how states spend the money.
