President Donald Trump’s administration sought major cuts to the U.S. Department of Education in its budget proposal for fiscal 2018, and also put forward new initiatives to boost school choice. It fell short on both counts, and recent spending figures released by the Education Department last week reveal which states are the winners and losers for two key programs.
In the federal spending legislation approved by Congress and signed by Trump in March, Title I, which is earmarked for students from low-income backgrounds and is the single largest pot of money for K-12 funded by the federal government, received a $300 million increase over fiscal 2017. That brings fiscal 2018 spending on Title I to nearly $15.8 billion. And Title II, the portion of the Every Student Succeeds Act that finances professional development for educators, was level-funded at nearly $2.1 billion.
Both the Title I and Title II programs distribute money by formulas and not through competitive grants. Allotment figures will be finalized in July.
According to the department’s updated budget tables for fiscal 2018, the majority of states—29 and the District of Columbia—will get more money for fiscal 2018 in Title I money than they did for fiscal 2017, while 19 states will see a reduction in Title I aid. Two states, New Jersey and North Carolina, will see their funding levels stay virtually flat.
A big Title I winner is Oklahoma, which will get 11.6 percent more money from that pot in fiscal 2018, which began Oct. 1, than in 2017. In second place is California with an 8.5 percent increase, followed by the District of Columbia with an 8.4 percent rise. Meanwhile, Kansas will see a 9 percent drop, New Hampshire an 8 percent decline, and Hawaii a 7.3 percent dip.
For Title II, the story was about survival.
The administration sought to eliminate Title II. However, teachers’ unions and other education associations fought vigorously on Capitol Hill to preserve the grants, and ultimately Congress decided to flat-fund them at close to $2.1 billion for fiscal 2018.
There’s a very similar story for Title II when it comes to a state-by-state breakdown of winners and losers. Most states—31, along with the District of Columbia—will see an increase in Title II aid, while 19 states will see less money in fiscal 2018 than in fiscal 2017.
When it passed in late 2015, ESSA changed the formula for funding Title II to place a greater weight on student poverty and less on overall student population. (ESSA did not change the formulas determining how Title I money is distributed.)
Nevada will see the biggest jump in its Title II by percentage at 10.7 percent, while Arizona will get an 8.8 percent increase, and North Carolina will receive a 6.9 percent bump. On the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia is seeing a 5.8 percent decline, New York will get a 5.4 percent dip, and Michigan will experience a 4.8 percent decrease.
