Letter from USED Re: FY2017 Federal Formula Program Allocations
Earlier this week, USED sent the following note to chief state school officers, with updated information about FY2017 federal formula program allocations. The text of the letter is as follows:
Now
that there is a fiscal year 2017 (school year (SY) 2017-2018) appropriation, I
am writing to provide a brief update on allocations, as some of you have asked
about them. The appropriation sets the funding levels for programs under
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every
Student Succeeds Act (ESEA), as well as other programs administered by the U.S.
Department of Education (ED). Therefore, for formula programs
administered by ED’s Office of State Support and other offices, ED can now
finalize SY 2016-2017 allocations and issue SY 2017-2018 preliminary
allocations.
SY
2016-2017 (Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A)
As
we have discussed in prior communications with you, the FY 2017 continuing
resolution that was in effect before the final FY 2017 appropriation became law
included an across-the-board reduction in the amount of funds provided through
the FY 2016 appropriations act that became available on October 1, 2016.
The reduction resulted in revised SY 2016-2017 Title I, Part A and Title II,
Part A allocations that ED issued in October 2016 and reduced the amount of FY
2016 Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A funds that ED awarded to States at
that time. (The reductions had no effect on Title III, Part A or State
Assessment Grant allocations because the FY 2016 appropriations act made all of
the funds for these programs available on July 1, 2016.)
Now
that the FY 2017 appropriation has superseded the continuing resolution, the
cut is no longer in effect. We anticipate issuing second revised final SY
2016-2017 Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A allocations and supplemental
grant awards very soon. As in past years, to reflect the updated
allocations, a State may either adjust the current Title I, Part A and Title
II, Part A local educational agency (LEA) allocations for SY 2016-2017 or make
the adjustment when the State determines SY 2017-2018 allocations to
LEAs. More information about adjustments will be provided in the
allocation notification.
SY
2017-2018 (Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; and State
Assessment Grants (Title I, Part B))
ED
expects to provide preliminary SY 2017-2018 allocations for Title I, Part A;
Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; and State Assessment Grants before the end
of May. As in past years, updates to some data elements in the Title I,
Part A formula (e.g., LEA finance data used in the Education Finance Incentive
Grant formula) and Title II, Part A and State Assessment Grant formulas (i.e.,
State-level ages 5 to 17 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau) are
expected to become available in June. Therefore, in the second half of
June, ED plans to issue final allocations for these programs based on the
updated data elements and will use the final allocations as the basis for the
grant awards that ED will issue on July 1, 2017. Regarding Title III,
Part A, it is unlikely that there will be any changes between the preliminary
SY 2017-2018 allocations and the final allocations.