Over at the Quick and the Ed, Robert Manwaring asks an important question about the Title I money in the stimulus package: How would cash-strapped districts comply with the program’s “supplement, not supplant” rule?
As I pointed out yesterday, the stimulus bill would give Title I $13 billion—almost as much as it received in fiscal 2008. The rule is designed to ensure that districts aren’t using federal dollars to offset state and local cuts. That doesn’t appear to be possible in the current fiscal climate and may require some “fancy accounting” if the rule is in effect for stimulus money, Manwaring says.
“Keep an eye on the supplement/supplant language in the stimulus package as it moves forward because this is an area where details matter,” he writes.