|
|
|
 |
AEP Online |
Blaschke on Federal FundingNew GAO Report Recommends More Flexibility in Guidelines for SESShortly after USED approved flexibility agreements that allow Anchorage and Memphis to provide their own supplemental educational services, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that USED expand this pilot program to other districts which have been identified for improvement to serve as SES providers "if evaluation results show that these districts can provide quality SES services." In a July 14 letter responding to GAO, USED acknowledged "we are currently considering expanding the SES pilot that allows districts in need of improvement to apply to become SES providers." The Council of Great City Schools, which has acted as a liaison between its member districts and USED, indicated over a year ago that more than ten districts were interested in providing their own SES. A Council official has expressed disappointment that USED only approved two more of its member districts to participate. A third participating district -- Hillsborough County, Florida -- was approved in mid-August. Some observers feel that the GAO report will provide some momentum for the expansion to other districts in the future. As the GAO report found, "during three of our four site visits, state and district officials expressed concern that districts identified for needs improvement are excluded from delivering SES, and one state official noted that removing districts from the state approved provider list may result in lower SES participation. Further, in our surveys, three state SES coordinators and 17 (of 22) district SES coordinators wrote in comments permitting districts in needs improvement status to provide services would assist their efforts." Even though a CEP survey last year reported that the percentage of urban and suburban districts that are state-approved SES providers has declined, GAO estimates that 15 percent of districts nationwide were state-approved providers in 2004-2005. Based upon its district survey, review of state data, and onsite visits to poor districts in four states, GAO estimated that approximately 1,000 districts in 2004-05 were required to offer SES and that the number of eligible students receiving SES had increased from 12 percent in 2003-04 to 19 percent in 2004-05 -- a total of 430,000 students. GAO also estimated districts required to offer SES spent about five percent of their total Title I funds for SES in 2004-05. About 40 percent of the districts spent 20 percent or less and almost one fifth of the districts spent over 80 percent. Of the total amount districts set aside for SES, GAO estimated they spent slightly over 40 percent on SES. The report also confirmed a finding by the Center on Education Policy that SES are concentrated in large urban districts and noted that 56 percent of SES-participating students attended school in 21 districts with more than 10,000 total enrolled students that were required to offer SES. GAO also included other interesting findings, including:
Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 302-295-8349.
|
Click here to download a pdf of "No Child Left Behind Act, Education Actions Needed to Improve Local Implementation and State Evaluation of Supplemental Educational Services."
|
|
© 2011 The Association of Educational
Publishers |
||
