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Budget & Finance

What Each State Will Get in Federal Title I Grants for Disadvantaged Kids Next Year

By Andrew Ujifusa — April 22, 2019 1 min read
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The last few weeks have shown just how much interest there can be in presidential budget proposals for education. Much of the attention has focused on proposals that tend never to get traction in Congress, like the proposed elimination of Special Olympics aid that Trump quickly backed away from. But what about education spending stats that are more firmly rooted in what Congress has done?

Last month, the U.S. Department of Education released funding tables for several major programs for each state, covering fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020. Let’s focus on the report for state-by-state grants under Title I. That’s the formula-grant program designed to serve disadvantaged students and the single largest pot of money for K-12 in the federal budget. Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to cut the federal budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, Congress has given relatively small increases to the Education Department’s budget for each of those years. That trend includes Title I, which is now getting $15.9 billion, compared to $15.5 billion in fiscal 2017. (Trump signed his first spending bills into law for fiscal 2018.)

However, just because total Title I aid has risen doesn’t mean each state is getting more cash. We counted 18 states that estimates indicate will get less in money for disadvantaged kids in 2019-2020. Those states include California (which gets the biggest amount of Title I by far, not surprisingly), Colorado, Indiana, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Important caveat: The numbers for fiscal 2019 are estimates based on the spending bill signed by President Donald Trump last September and aren’t finalized. However, because they’re based on legislation passed by Congress, most if not all the numbers are probably a good indication of where Title I funding is headed for each state.

The fiscal 2019 figures impact the 2019-20 school year. The document also includes state-by-state Title I estimates for fiscal 2020; however, Congress has yet to pass spending legislation for that fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

See the complete list below for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Photo: President Donald Trump in 2017. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)