MEMORANDUM Subject: ESEA Title II-A State Grants Under Pre-Conference Agreement From: Jeff Kuenzi Specialist in Education Policy 7-8645 jkuenzi@crs.loc.gov November 17, 2015 This memorandum was prepared to enable distribution to more than one congressional office. This memorandum provides analysis of proposed changes to Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Part A of Title II authorizes the Secretary of Education to award federal funds for preparing, training, and recruiting K-12 teachers and principals. After a series of reservations for specified purposes, Title II-A funds are awarded to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico according to a base guarantee and funding formula.1 The base guarantee of funding is equal to the amount each state received for FY2001 under three antecedent programs.2 Any excess funding is then allocated by formula among the states based on each state’s share of the total school-age population (age 5 to 17) and the school-age population living in poverty. These populations account for 35% and 65% of the formula, respectively; i.e., 35% of the excess is allocated according to the school-age population and 65% is allocated according to the school-age population living in poverty. Current law further provides that each state is assured no less than 0.5% of the excess. This memorandum analyzes the impact of proposed changes under a pre-conference agreement; details of which were provided to CRS by the HELP Committee on November 16, 2015. Under the agreement, both the base guarantee and the formula factors would be amended. Specifically, the proposal would gradually reduce the base guarantee over seven years and eliminate the guarantee beginning in FY2023. The proposal would also replace the current formula weights by gradually increasing the poverty factor and gradually decreasing the population factor from the current 65/35 ratio to 80/20 beginning with FY2020. Title II-A Pre-Conference Agreement The pre-conference agreement would change both the Title II-A base guarantee and formula factors. Specifically, the proposed agreement would reduce each state’s base guarantee 14.29 percentage-points for each year between FY2017 and FY2022 and eliminate the base guarantee beginning in FY2023. Table 1 presents the proposed base guarantee. 1 More information on ESEA Title II-A can be found in CRS Report R41267, Elementary and Secondary School Teachers: Policy Context, Federal Programs, and ESEA Reauthorization Issues, by Jeffrey J. Kuenzi. 2 The programs, Eisenhower Professional Development, Class Size Reduction, and Staff Assistance, were repealed by passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110). Congressional Research Service 2 Table 1. Base Guarantee for Title II-A State Grants under Pre-Conference Agreement Fiscal Year Proposal 2017 85.71% of FY2001 Award 2018 71.42% of FY2001 Award 2019 57.13% of FY2001 Award 2020 42.84% of FY2001 Award 2021 28.55% of FY2001 Award 2022 14.26% of FY2001 Award 2023 and thereafter 0% of FY2001 Award The pre-conference agreement proposes to change the formula factors in current law. The proposal would gradually reduce the share of funds allocated according to each state’s share of the school-age population from the current 35% to 30% in FY2018, 25% in FY2019, and 20% in FY2020 and subsequent fiscal years. Under the agreement, the share of funds allocated according to each state’s share of the school-age children in poverty would gradually increase from the current 65% to 70% in FY2018, 75% in FY2019, and 80% in FY2020 and subsequent fiscal years. Table 2 presents estimated Title II-A state grant allocations. FY2016 awards are estimated using provisions in current law. FY2017 through FY2023 awards are estimated using the declining base guarantee and amended formula weights proposed in the pre-conference agreement. The total Title II-A appropriation for FY2016 is the current level of $2.35 billion. For FY2017 and subsequent years, the level is set at $2.296 billion. Differences between these appropriation levels are due to the removal of funds for national activities. Under current law, national activities are funded at 2.8% of the Title II-A appropriation. This amount is reduced to 0.05% under the pre-conference agreement as most activities currently funded through this set-aside are authorized elsewhere in the proposed legislation. Note that these estimates are calculated based on current population and poverty counts and do not account for likely future change in these data. Table 2. Estimated ESEA Title II-A State Grants Under Current Law and Pre-Conference Agreement (in thousands) Pre-Conference Agreement FY2016 Current Law FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 $36,285 $36,426 $36,664 $36,988 $37,398 $37,655 $37,912 $38,169 Alaska 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Arizona 35,496 38,035 40,681 43,427 46,271 48,940 51,608 54,271 Arkansas 22,040 22,320 22,671 23,084 23,559 23,924 24,288 24,652 California 254,340 257,796 261,381 265,149 269,099 272,724 276,350 279,968 Colorado 25,437 26,147 26,676 27,071 27,334 27,833 28,332 28,829 Connecticut 21,574 21,074 20,419 19,650 18,766 18,086 17,406 16,727 Delaware 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 State or Other Area Alabama Congressional Research Service 3 Pre-Conference Agreement FY2016 Current Law FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Florida 102,926 106,400 110,000 113,734 117,602 121,232 124,861 128,482 Georgia 59,838 62,994 66,314 69,788 73,414 76,769 80,123 83,471 Hawaii 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Idaho 10,853 10,960 11,031 11,075 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Illinois 93,723 92,446 91,023 89,511 87,909 86,466 85,023 83,583 Indiana 38,852 39,719 40,512 41,259 41,961 42,743 43,526 44,307 Iowa 17,873 17,785 17,581 17,290 16,913 16,689 16,465 16,242 Kansas 18,241 18,203 18,077 17,885 17,629 17,488 17,347 17,206 Kentucky 35,840 35,287 34,775 34,304 33,876 33,373 32,870 32,368 Louisiana 52,095 50,103 48,237 46,483 44,838 42,998 41,157 39,321 Maine 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Maryland 33,206 32,597 31,698 30,581 29,244 28,297 27,349 26,403 Massachusetts 41,946 40,775 39,389 37,845 36,143 34,722 33,301 31,883 Michigan 91,173 87,804 84,422 81,050 77,688 74,308 70,928 67,556 Minnesota 31,236 30,802 30,109 29,220 28,137 27,399 26,662 25,926 Mississippi 34,059 33,344 32,805 32,412 32,165 31,658 31,152 30,647 Missouri 39,456 39,526 39,545 39,537 39,500 39,513 39,526 39,539 Montana 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Nebraska 11,110 11,142 11,170 11,197 11,225 11,252 11,280 11,308 Nevada 11,417 12,559 13,684 14,802 15,912 17,036 18,159 19,280 New Hampshire 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 New Jersey 52,363 51,875 51,081 50,064 48,823 47,980 47,137 46,295 New Mexico 18,096 18,113 18,210 18,376 18,610 18,723 18,835 18,947 188,307 179,526 170,781 162,102 153,488 144,758 136,028 127,316 North Carolina 49,793 53,016 56,318 59,703 63,172 66,493 69,813 73,127 North Dakota 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Ohio 85,802 84,639 83,411 82,155 80,871 79,636 78,402 77,170 Oklahoma 26,237 26,479 26,712 26,945 27,179 27,411 27,644 27,876 Oregon 22,084 22,318 22,498 22,641 22,748 22,920 23,091 23,262 Pennsylvania 93,503 90,300 86,825 83,159 79,300 75,783 72,265 68,755 Puerto Rico 70,448 67,687 65,610 64,085 63,109 61,156 59,203 57,253 Rhode Island 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 South Carolina 28,553 29,575 30,673 31,841 33,078 34,192 35,305 36,416 South Dakota 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 State or Other Area District of Columbia New York Congressional Research Service 4 Pre-Conference Agreement FY2016 Current Law FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 38,844 40,178 41,590 43,078 44,642 46,072 47,501 48,927 Texas 186,990 192,226 197,744 203,547 209,635 215,217 220,798 226,368 Utah 14,923 15,647 16,197 16,617 16,906 17,427 17,948 18,468 Vermont 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 Virginia 40,760 41,096 41,111 40,888 40,425 40,387 40,349 40,310 Washington 37,521 38,036 38,386 38,619 38,735 39,059 39,383 39,706 West Virginia 19,680 18,588 17,512 16,451 15,406 14,333 13,261 12,190 Wisconsin 37,733 37,105 36,320 35,422 34,413 33,603 32,792 31,984 Wyoming 10,833 10,905 10,972 11,039 11,106 11,173 11,241 11,308 State or Other Area Tennessee Amount Available for State Allocation $2,260,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 $2,261,830 Set-asides National Activities 66,000 11,000 11,000 11,000 11,000 11,000 11,000 11,000 O.A. & BIE 23,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 Title II-A FY15 Appropriation $2,349,830 $2, 295,830 $2, 295,830 $2, 295,830 $2, 295,830 $2, 295,830 $2, 295,830 $2,295,830 Source: Table prepared by CRS November 16, 2015, presenting CRS estimates based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Budget Service. Notes: Estimated grants may not sum to totals due to rounding. These are estimated grants only. In addition to other limitations, data which will be used to calculate final grants are not yet available. These estimates are provided solely to assist in comparisons of the relative impact of alternative formulas and funding levels in the legislative process. They are not intended to predict specific amounts states will receive. Both current law and the proposal include a 0.5% small state minimum; this amount is calculated on the excess remaining after reservation of funds for the base guarantee, evaluation, Bureau of Indian Education, and the Outlying Areas. These estimates are calculated on current population and poverty counts and do not account for likely future change in these data.