The Formula Fairness Campaign’s dogged pursuit of revisions in the Title I allocation formula faces the same basic obstacle as other pending legislation on Capitol Hill: a viciously partisan atmosphere that inhibits compromise.
The Campaign seeks to reduce the impact of “number weighting” in the Title I formula. Number weighting gives a bonus to school districts with very high numbers of low-income children. The Campaign complains that this unfairly favors some districts — principally large central city and suburban districts with high numbers of low-income children but relatively low poverty percentages — at the expense of smaller cities and rural districts with higher poverty rates.
The Campaign has certainly made some progress; as we discuss in the most recent issue of the Title I Monitor, proponents have enlisted the support of several members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is responsible for writing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. But, while the committee has worked on other parts of the ESEA, it has not yet introduced its bill to reauthorize Title I, and my guess is that it will not do so before the Christmas recess.
On the Senate side, no formula revisions were included in the Harkin-Enzi bill approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Oct. 20, although there are rumors that Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., is considering pushing for formula changes when the bill reaches the floor.
Regardless of the level of support in this Congress, the fate of the Campaign’s desired formula revisions may be held hostage to the overall progress of the ESEA reauthorization bill. Legislation that shifts the balance of funds from one set of grantees to another generally passes only if it is rolled into a larger bill and/or is accompanied by a big enough increase in appropriations to ensure that “losers” do not actually see their grants go down, even if their relative share of the pot decreases.
Although some experts see the Senate committee’s action as a hopeful sign that a compromise ESEA bill might pass in 2012, the odds are still long. And there isn’t a lot of extra money sloshing around Washington these days.
The Campaign may have to patiently cultivate the ground for the next Congress, which will be elected next fall.
Photo Credit: Howard Lake
