School districts would be allowed to shift all of their money out of some federal programs to support efforts to improve the educational achievement of disadvantaged students under a bill introduced last week by House Republicans.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, districts can spend up to half of their federal grants for such things as supporting teacher quality, school technology, and safe and drug-free schools to supplement their Title I programs.
“While No Child Left Behind has provided unprecedented flexibility to states and local school districts, if Congress is really serious about raising student achievement in every American classroom, we must go even further,” Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said in a statement.
Rep. McKeon’s bill would allow districts to shift 100 percent of their funding from the other specified federal programs to their Title I efforts. No federal dollars could be transferred out of Title I for other purposes, the bill says.
In fiscal 2007, Title I is receiving $12.8 billion of the $21 billion spent on No Child Left Behind programs.
